Wordlessly
by goldskies7120
Summary: All Percy wants is to get through high school relatively unscathed. But there are three problems with that plan. 1) One of Goode's most popular, the one and only Annabeth Chase, freaking hates his guts. 2) He's been chosen for a local inter-school partner competition that will surely bring him unwelcome attention. 3) Guess who he has to be partners with? AU. Characters are Rick's.
1. Welcome to the Show

**Hi guys! This is just a preview to a fanfic that I'm going to pursue later on. I won't update this until after I've finished Oceans Away, unfortunately. And that probably won't be for another couple of months. Speaking of which, if you haven't seen Oceans Away, the fanfic I'm currently working on, please check it out!**

 **I would really appreciate your thoughts on this story. Please review! :D**

 **Disclaimer: The only thing I own here is the plotline. And even that is terribly cliche.**

* * *

Day one.

I slam the door to Paul's Prius shut. Shouldering my backpack, I pull my grey beanie over my head and walk across the parking lot. My eyes are trained on the ground in front of me, but I periodically glance upward to locate my friends.

" _Welcome to Goode!"_ , reads a banner, hanging low over the school's entrance. Green and white balloons (our school colors) are scattered across the front lawn. A couple of jocks play volleyball with them, while others take to popping them in front of girls' faces.

As I walk up the steps, I try my best to ignore what's going on beside me. A football player is kissing a girl against the railing. A freshman is flipping a water bottle down the stairs, trying to land it upright at the bottom. A group of popular girls are staring at me as I shuffle past. As soon as I'm a couple feet beyond them, they giggle like they just saw the lamest thing on the planet.

I squeeze my eyes closed and barge through the door. Not many people are inside, since it's a good twenty minutes before school starts. It's typical for me to be at school early though, because I ride to school with my stepdad, Paul. He's an AP English teacher at Goode. He normally doesn't walk in with me. His classroom is towards the back of the school, so he drops me off at the front and parks near the back entrance.

I perk up when I notice that my best friend, Grover, is already waiting in front of my locker. Grover's a pretty chill guy. He's nice, funny, and smart too. However, the rest of the school treats him like a social outcast. To be fair, they treat my entire friend group like that, but him more than most. Maybe because of his appearance. Puberty hit him hard a year ago, so now he's stuck with an acne problem and a voice that sometimes sounds goat-like. He has curly brown hair and a goatee as well, so he looks less like a teenager and more like he's in his late twenties.

He doesn't deserve that kind of treatment, though. He's one of the coolest guys I've ever met. If the nicest ones were always the popular ones, Grover would practically be school royalty.

Plus, he's great at playing reed pipes. If the pipes were a guitar, I'm sure he would be making all of the girls swoon. Unfortunately, pipes don't have as good of a reputation. One girl did swoon, however, when he played them last year in the middle of lunch. That girl is currently his girlfriend, Juniper.

I slip my other backpack strap around my shoulder (I normally just use the one), and I jog over to him.

He beams at me. "Percy! Happy first day!"

I roll my eyes. "It's anything _but_ happy, but same to you."

We give each other a quick hug.

We talk for a while about each other's summers. That is, the part of summer that we _didn't_ spend together. My friends and I spent a good portion of it together in Montauk, my favorite vacation place. We also hung out a lot outside of the trip, watching movies, visiting amusement parks, and going swimming. We're a pretty tight-knit group, in my opinion. We've been through thick and thin together. If anybody in our group is going through something bad, we've all got that person's back, whether they like it or not.

Within ten minutes, Juniper arrives, and I take that as my cue to leave. I've spent enough time with the couple to know that third-wheeling them is not a great idea. It's alright though, because I run into Nico and Hazel on my way out.

Nico and Hazel are both sophomores. They're half-siblings, but they couldn't look more different. Nico has the palest skin you've ever seen, while Hazel has a warm, brown skin tone. Nico has straight, pitch-black hair, while Hazel's is curly and chocolatey brown. His eyes are black, her eyes are strangely gold.

They act completely different too. Nico is more of the brooding type and tends to disappear into the shadows. However, if you know him really well, like I do, you can bring out his more happy-go-lucky, innocent side. Hazel is lively and friendly all around, to anyone she meets. She has this infectious energy around her that automatically makes you happy, even if you've just been crying your eyes out. She can make anybody feel better.

Grover, Juniper, and Hazel's boyfriend Frank join us a couple minutes before school starts. We all laugh together about my friend Leo's summer escapades (Leo's currently in Texas, on an extended vacation). The bell interrupts us with its unmistakable screech, and I sigh in frustration. Back to school again.

The excitement of the summer leeches out slowly from every student, the farther we get into the day. By the time fourth period ends and lunch begins, the classroom is filled with brain-dead zombies. We all shuffle out as soon as the bell rings, massing towards the school's cafeteria.

Seconds later, I remember that I have to leave my backpack in Paul's classroom. My last period is PE, so it's more convenient to leave it with Paul than struggle with the throngs of students battling their own backpacks into their lockers. I can always pick it up at the end of the day, anyway, when Paul takes me home.

I push through the crowd of kids walking towards the lunch area. As soon as I escape the horde of students, I race to Paul's classroom. However, as I jump through his doorway, I fail to notice another student walking out.

 _THUNK_. Two notebooks and a pencil pouch hurtle to the floor, the contents of the pouch spilling over and rolling on the cement.

I pick myself up and glance at the student I crashed into. A pair of grey eyes meet mine, and I gasp.

Only one person in this school has eyes like those. Annabeth Chase.

She looks really good today. Her blonde curls hang loose and are held back by a thin headband. She's wearing a black miniskirt combined with a see-through white button-down and a white tank top underneath. Her getup accentuates those splendid curves and incredible muscles, objectively speaking. It's just the right amount of revealing, not too slutty, not too modest, like the perfect popular girl. Silver owl earrings dangle from her ears. They're paired with a matching ring around the ring finger of her right hand.

I know you're all like, what the heck? You act like you know her.

Unfortunately, I do. For years now, we've been circling each other like boxers in a ring, waiting for the other to throw a punch. I honestly don't know _what_ I did for her to hate me so much, but here are the more significant events from our eternal feud.

It started in sixth grade, when she attended the same summer camp as I did. While that year was her sixth at the camp, it was my first, so naturally, I didn't have any friends. Having made buddies with Grover that school year, I hung out with him ninety percent of the time. He was, pretty much, the only guy I knew. At camp, I also made friends with this really nice older guy named Luke, who spent a good amount of time with me as well. What I _didn't_ know was that Annabeth had been really good friends with both Grover and Luke for years. So every time one of them hung out with me instead of her, she got really jealous. She refused to talk to me that summer, unless she wanted to insult me. Just an FYI, she's dating Luke now. The fact that he's a college guy only bolsters her popular status.

The next year, I attended the same middle school which Annabeth went to. Bad idea. I walked into her during lunch one day, and my drink found its way onto her shirt. She screamed at me like a banshee for that, even though she knew it was completely unintentional. Ever since then, she was determined to make my life miserable. Later that year, she 'bumped' into me while I was holding my favorite memento. It was a bull horn from a trip to Montauk with my mom. I had found it on the side of the road while we were driving. The moment I picked it up, I fell in love with it. It became my new favorite toy. During that entire trip, I pretended it was a sword and battled random people with it. Days after that vacation, I was showing the horn to Grover when Annabeth 'bumped' into me. It flew out of my hands and crashed onto the floor, shattering into pieces as my seventh-grade heart did. When I glared up at her angrily, she didn't look apologetic at all. She just brushed right past me and ignored the whole scene. One of her cronies, Thalia, just stuck her tongue out at me as they sashayed away.

It mostly died down until sophomore year. Oh gods. That was a terrible year. Annabeth and I were both nominees for a sports scholarship, me for my swimming, Annabeth for cross country and track. After many ugly glares across the school and taunts about who was going to win, I ended up securing the title. That itself made her blow up. She stormed out of the room the moment it was announced, and she made every member of her clique refuse to acknowledge me. After that day ended, I walked to Paul's car, only to find Annabeth making out with Luke on top of the hood. When she noticed my presence, she gave me an _oh, silly me_ look, but I knew she did it on purpose, just to spite me.

The final straw was the end of sophomore year, when the Stoll brothers created this elaborate prank to target the popular group, which consisted of Annabeth, Thalia, and a bunch of other rich, good-looking guys and girls. It was pretty bad, and Annabeth got the brunt of it. She went back home with wet hair and silly string matting her clothes. Somehow, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was accused of conducting it. I got detention for it too, all while the Stolls giggled in relief. I gave them a _talk_ about it, of course, but Annabeth still thinks that I was the culprit. And so, she hates my guts.

Contrary to popular belief, though, I don't hate her. Honestly, I feel like if we could get past the kill-each-other stage, we could be pretty good friends. I _want_ to be her friend, but I mean, considering the circumstances, I don't think that's ever going to happen.

I pull myself out of my thoughts and refocus on the girl in front of me. Her grey eyes are narrowed as they bore into my face. Her arms are crossed, and she's tapping her foot on the floor. _Uh oh._

I decide to play it cool and keep my manners. New year, right? Maybe we could start a new phase in our relationship that _isn't_ full of hostility.

"Sorry, Chase," I say. I bend down to pick up the supplies that had spilled from her pencil pouch.

She slaps my hand away and grumbles, "Don't touch my stuff."

I raise my eyebrows and step back. I guess not. "Ookay."

She ignores me and continues gathering her pens. Then, she storms out of the classroom. Shrugging to myself, I drop my backpack next to Paul's desk.

Paul seems to notice me just then, and his eyes lift. "Hey, Percy! I brought some Chick-fil-A today for us. That cool with you?"

I reply with a grin, "Of course!"

I ask him how things are going and chat with him for a little bit. Then, I walk back to the cafeteria, my Chick-fil-A in tow. Yet I can't help but feel bothered by my encounter with Annabeth.

It's a new year. New classes. New experiences. New memories.

But the one thing I hoped would _actually_ become something new has steadfastly stayed the same.


	2. Breaking News

**I've decided to name the chapters after song titles. The first one is _Welcome to the Show_ by Adam Lambert. This one is _Breaking News_ by Louis the Child. The lyrics of the songs themselves probably aren't very relevant to the storyline, but the titles are - somewhat. I kinda really suck at choosing songs for chapters.**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter! It picks up right where the last chapter ended.**

* * *

 **Annabeth**

As soon as he leaves, I sigh in relief.

I am _so_ not ready to deal with Percy Jackson right now. With the SAT coming up this weekend and cross country tryouts the day after, I have enough stress on my plate. I don't need another year filled with venomous words and carefully calculated comebacks. To be honest, I don't want to interact with him at all.

It's not that I'm mad at him, even though I have plenty of reason to be. He's stolen my best friends, sent me home with a bucket of water and silly string on my head, spilt a drink on me, tripped me, made fun of me, and, worst of all, his presence _always_ reminds me of that stupid sports scholarship that I couldn't get.

But no. I'm not angry with him.

And I don't _hate_ him, contrary to popular belief. I feel like what happened is just a series of accidents and coincidences that amounted into the enemyship we have now. Stealing my best friends? There is a very high likelihood he didn't know Grover and Luke were my best friends. Spilling the drink? I _know_ that was an accident. I was just really moody that day. Making fun of me? To be fair, I did it to him first, and multiple times after.

Don't get me wrong, though. I'm not saying we can become friends. He and I are polar opposites. Fire and water. Entirely incompatible. I could even write you a whole essay detailing why exactly we will never get along in the history of our lives, but I'll spare you the details for now.

With difficulty, I drag myself away from my thoughts. One blink later, I realize my face is an inch from a pole.

I take a cautious step back. I must have been walking/thinking/doing the not-really-focusing thing Piper tells me I do a lot. I should probably curtail that habit.

I pause near a table to shove my notebooks and pens back into my backpack. Then, I walk to the cafeteria.

Piper stops talking to her boyfriend Jason the moment she sees me. She greets me with a dazzling smile and a slight wave.

I smile back at my best friend and slide into the seat beside her.

I absolutely adore Piper. Her father is the world-famous actor Tristan McLean, yet she's so incredibly down-to-earth. She's the sweetest, kindest, bravest, and she's effortlessly beautiful - she wears very little makeup to school, yet she always looks stunning. Her doe-like eyes constantly change color. Her layered brown hair looks like it belongs on a L'oreal commercial. Her copper skin glows under the school lights.

Overall, Piper's just really amazing. Hands-down.

I look around the table at my friends. There's Piper and Jason, of course. There's also Silena and Beckendorf, who are both graduating seniors; Thalia, who's also a senior; and Will, another junior. Every single one of them has an ambition that they're actively pursuing and are taking strides in achieving it, which is what I admire most about them. They're loyal, kind, and brilliant in their own ways. It also helps that they're some of the most good-looking in the school.

We engage in some playful banter throughout lunch. School events, gossip, the works. An air of calm surrounds my table as Thalia cracks a joke and we all chuckle. Gods. I love my friends.

It all sours as the familiar scent of chlorine and body wash approaches.

Percy Jackson.

Again.

I try not to look as he lumbers across the cafeteria and slips into a seat next to Grover. His green eyes light up as he grabs a tater tot from an Asian guy's hand (I think the guy's name is Frank?) and pops it in his mouth. His table bursts into laughter.

He runs a hand through his hair, but two strands immediately pop back in front of his face. They start rocking gently in the air-conditioning breeze. I feel the strange desire to cut them off.

Piper nudges me. "You ready for the Zeus' Cup announcement today?"

I drop my fork into my salad and gape at her.

Shoot. Shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot. Shoot.

Oh my freaking gods. How could I have forgotten about the most famous inter-school competition in the city? How could I have forgotten that our school's only two representatives would be announced literally in an hour?

"Um- ," I choke out. "Sure." My heart pounds against my chest, as if it's trying to break me open.

Piper gazes at me with a knowing smile. She rests a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll be fine. There's literally no way you _won't_ be chosen."

Doubtful. In the history of Zeus' Cup, ninety-two percent of our school's teams have been entirely male. Six percent have been co-ed, and two percent has been entirely female. Meaning, like, one team. Likely because of the preconceived notion that boys are better at competitions than girls are.

So given the chances that only eight percent of Goode's Zeus' Cup teams have included a girl, there's a pretty small probability that I'm going to get in.

But gods. I really, really, _really_ want this. It'll look perfect on my college resumé, and if I win it, the prize money will be an awesome addition to my bank account. Might even save me from defaulting on my student loans a couple years from now. Also, Luke got chosen two years ago, and even though he didn't win, he wouldn't stop talking about how it was the best experience of his high school career. This is the same Luke who hardly ever praises anything.

And besides, Zeus' Cup is practically the biggest deal in our city. It has tons of sponsors and endorsements. Nearly every resident of the city keeps track of the event, young or old, male or female, whatever race or background. There are newspaper articles published on it, magazine features, and photo albums; social media hashtags, fan bases, prizes, followers; literally everything.

Gods. Participating would be a dream.

Jason chows down on his hamburger. "You know," he states, mouth full. "Goode hasn't had a team on the podium in the last, like, fifteen years. The teachers had better do something drastic if they want to give us a chance at winning."

Silena places her chin in her palm. "Wait. Which teachers are choosing our reps this year?"

Jason shrugs. "I don't know. They always keep it top secret. Hopefully, it's someone who likes us."

I give him a nervous smile. There aren't many teachers who hate me (except for Mrs. Dodds, 8th grade algebra), so that may slightly increase my chances of being chosen.

But then Thalia asks the accursed question, making me shudder in anticipation. "Who do you think is going to be chosen this year?"

"I would definitely put my money on Annabeth," Piper cuts in. "She's practically the best runner in the school."

My entire group nods in agreement. My heart leaps. If they're right...

Piper continues, "As for the other person, I don't know. They probably won't do an all girls' team, so that takes out the chances for me, Thalia, Silena, or any other girl from our grade. It might be you, Jason, or you Beck."

Beckendorf raises his head at that. "Remember, Silena, Thalia and I are seniors. We missed our chance last year. And even if I was a junior, I couldn't. I injured myself over the summer during football practice. I'm wearing a brace under my pants right now."

Thalia frowns. "It's probably you, Jason."

"It could be somebody else, you know," Will points out. "There are plenty of athletic people in the school."

"True," I comment. "But based on the people we know, I guess…"

Suddenly, the bell rings, signaling the end of lunch. The halls boom with Mr. Brunner's voice. "Good afternoon, kids. Don't forget to stay tuned for our _special announcement_ taking place towards the end of fourth period: which juniors will be picked for the annual Zeus' Cup competition!"

With a crackle and a fizz, the loudspeakers die down.

I gulp and squeeze my eyes shut. My stomach churns violently. Gods, I _need_ this, _please. Please_ let me participate in Zeus' Cup.

A minute later, I realize I've been standing there way too long, and my friends have already cleared out.

I shake my head vigorously and start walking towards my next class: AP Biology. Within seconds, I find my face buried in somebody's shirt. I look up at the culprit.

Oh my gods, are you serious? Him? Now?

Percy palms his neck as he apologizes. His eyes are downturned, his green eyes darker than usual. Is that pink at the tips of his ears? Was that apology really genuine (for once)?

He bites his lip as he waits for my response. I try my best to not follow the action.

I hold my hand in front of my face to cover my blush, mumbling an abrupt, "It's okay." Then, I maneuver away from him. Curse my constantly zoned-out head.

I speed-walk down the halls, trying to put as much distance between him and me as possible. However, when I look back to gauge the distance between us, I realize Percy's right behind me.

Quickly, I turn back around and walk a little faster. A couple seconds later, I check on him again.

He's still behind me, but a little farther away now. He looks up and our eyes meet. Immediately, he glances back down at his feet.

Scowling, I ask, "Can you _please_ stop following me?"

An eyebrow shoots up into his hair. "My class is this way. Not everything is about you, _wise girl_."

"That's not what I said, _seaweed brain._ What class are you going to?"

As his lips form the words, it's almost in slow-motion, because I can tell what he's going to say, and I don't like it. "AP Bio."

Maybe there's still hope? "What teacher?"

He runs his hand through his hair, mussing it up even more. "Hayes. You?"

A chunk of spit clogs up my esophagus. I swallow it down and whirl back around.

Wow. Thanks, gods. Thank you for putting _Percy Jackson_ in my class. Of all the people you could have possibly given me.

I mean, it's probably not going to be that bad. As long as I avoid him to the best of my ability.

His voice protrudes from behind me as I march forward. "You have it too, don't you?"

I ignore him. He lets out a loud sigh and follows me as I walk through Mr. Hayes's door.

The teacher himself is waiting at the doorway, directing students to their assigned seats. "Last name?" he asks.

I reply, and he comments, "Oh, you're over there. By the window." His gaze flits behind me, and he smiles. "You must be the famed Percy Jackson."

I look back at him in surprise. Percy knows this guy?

He flashes the teacher a winning smile. "Yup."

Mr. Hayes remarks, "It's nice to meet the real guy. Paul can't stop talking about you."

Paul? As in Paul Blofis? My AP English Language teacher?

How do they know each other? Percy doesn't _have_ AP English, as far as I know.

Percy replies, "Good or bad?"

Mr. Hayes points his finger at Percy. "All good so far, and you'd better keep it that way. Your seat is over there, across from Ms. Chase. Go sit."

Tipping an imaginary hat, Percy bows. "Yessir."

The men laugh together as I slump into my seat and groan.

Turns out, it might be pretty bad after all.

* * *

 **Percy**

I don't know whether to feel relieved or frustrated, honestly.

Relieved, because I may finally get the chance to mend my relationship with Annabeth, considering we're sitting across from each other in bio.

Frustrated, because Annabeth doesn't seem to want to do the same, and the last thing I need is for an angry girl to be constantly yelling at me while I'm trying to pay attention to my favorite subject.

I seat myself in front of Annabeth and set my bag down. I risk a cautious glance at her. She's glaring doggedly at the table in front of her, as if she can shove the eraser shavings off her desk with the power of her mind. I take inventory; her eyes are narrowed, fists clenched, jaw tight. So she's mad, most likely at me. It would probably be a good idea to stay quiet right now.

As passing period continues, more people get seated around the room. A gangly brown-haired boy named Travis sits beside me and starts bickering with a girl at the table behind me. A few moments of listening tells me the girl's name is Katie. As soon as the bell rings, a broad-shouldered, muscular girl plops into the chair next to Annabeth's and drops her backpack onto the table. I recognize her as the bully from my middle-school years. Clarisse.

Mr. Hayes strolls up to the front of the room and introduces himself to the class. He then launches into a monologue about the AP Bio curriculum and class expectations. As much as I like Mr. Hayes, who's Paul's closest friend at school, I've already been through this four times today. Plus, my ADHD isn't exactly helping me sit still and listen. So, I push my chair out and start doodling in my notebook.

I get bored of it really quickly, so I look around at my tablemates. Travis sneaks glances at Katie every once in a while, shooting her funny faces and mouthing random statements to her. The most common one seems to be _I'm bored._ Ten bucks that he's going to ask her out by the end of the year. Clarisse's eyelids droop every five minutes, but she wakes herself up by ripping pieces of paper into even squares. Now, halfway through the period, her pile is at least an inch tall. Annabeth is still glaring, thoughts probably racing at a hundred miles per hour up in her head. She's murmuring to herself, strands of curly blonde hair falling into her face. She looks really pretty when she's like that - focused and determined. Hey, it's a fact. It's not just me, I swear.

Suddenly, a hand flies out of nowhere and clamps itself onto my own. It feels cool and soft against my clammy skin. I look up in surprise.

Annabeth's eyebrow is raised at me. She seems slightly pissed off. She mouths, _Stop it._

 _Stop what?_ I mouth back.

She removes her hand from mine, picks up her pencil, and taps it rapidly on the desk. It makes a soft thumping noise every time it hits her notebook.

I glance down at my own hand. Had I been doing that? Whoops.

 _Sorry_ , I mouth back.

She rolls her eyes and goes back to staring at the desk in front of her.

I watch her for a few seconds. Her face seems relatively relaxed now. Good. She's not angry at me anymore.

I turn my head back to Mr. Hayes, but I literally _can't_ pay attention. If he was talking about legit bio, maybe I would have been able to, but all he's talking about right now are test make-up policies and late work submissions and everything that my mom and I could figure out with a quick glance at the syllabus.

I find that I've been tapping my pencil against the desk again. I sneak a guilty look at Annabeth, who's pointedly ignoring me.

Sighing, I decide to try my luck. I draw a short horizontal line across the corner of my notebook, followed by a vertical line protruding upwards from its middle. Then, I finish the rest of the noose, and I draw two dashes underneath it. I turn my notebook around so that Annabeth can see what I've drawn.

She looks at it curiously for a couple seconds, and then she rolls her eyes. "Hangman? Seriously?" she whispers.

I shrug, eliciting an exasperated groan from her. She shakes her head and turns away, earrings swinging from the sudden motion. I stare at them for a second, mesmerized by the way they move back and forth, back and forth, like one of those toys for infants that hang from the top of a cradle or something.

Speaking of which, my mom's pregnant right now, so we might be getting one of those toys pretty soon. I'm really excited for when the baby comes. Even though he/she and I will be sixteen years apart, I'm getting the feeling that I'll have a lot of fun with him or her. I don't know if I want a brother or sister, though. I mean, obviously I can't control it, but I think I would prefer a brother, just so I could relate to him a bit. But then again, my mom has probably had enough of troublemakers in her lifetime. She could probably use a girl baby. Plus, I would be able to fawn over her and shoot down all her boyfriends. Gods, that would be fun.

I hop out of my seat when I hear a prolonged _BEEEEEEP_ emanate from the loudspeakers. Annabeth smirks at my jumpiness. Feeling slightly insulted, I stick my tongue out at her.

"Testing. Testing," Mr. Brunner says through the loudspeaker. "Okay. Perfect. It's time for what you've all been waiting for!"

Oh. _Oh._ Zeus' Cup.

I immediately grimace. Our school _sucks_ at Zeus' Cup, mainly because the teachers always decide that the popular kids are the best fit for the job. The thing is, most of the time they're not.

"As most of you guys know, except for maybe some freshmen and newbies, Zeus' Cup is an inter-school competition that takes place in various locations throughout the city," Mr. Brunner explains. "In the tournament, there are four challenges that participants have to succeed in, which range from athletic trials to academic topics to anything in between. It is an incredibly prestigious event sponsored by many local businesses and companies."

He pauses, clears his throat, and continues, "Schools all over the city are allowed to choose two students from the junior class to participate in this competition and obtain a shot at winning. And that is what we are here for today: to announce our school representatives for Zeus' Cup!"

Everybody in the class cheers, even Mr. Hayes.

"I would like to remind you that these two students should be representatives of our school in all aspects," Mr. Brunner recites. "They are to be model students of discipline and character; they are to be hardworking and educated, with GPAs above 3.0; they are to be driven and athletic, as they are required to be successful in at least one sport within or outside of school.

"That being said, our two representative students will be… DRUMROLL, PLEASE!"

Grins illuminate people's faces as excited expressions are passed throughout the room. Everybody starts beating their palms against their thighs, myself included.

I glance at Annabeth across from me. She's patting one hand on her lap; the other is currently occupied - she's biting her fingernails. She's nervous now, so she must be riding on this. She must really want to be selected.

"I can't hear you!" Mr. Brunner exclaims. A couple people groan amusedly, but everyone starts pounding harder, louder.

"Our first representative will be none other than... Miss Annabeth Chase!"

The class roars in approval. Clarisse pats her back as Annabeth raises her hands to her mouth in shock. Her eyes sparkle and gleam.

Smiling, I give her a brief fist bump. To my surprise, she returns it with a matching smile on her face. She must have momentarily forgotten her hatred for me.

"And our second representative will be… again, drumroll, please."

The class hypes itself up even more. People are pounding on the tables and stomping their feet. Annabeth seems to be crossing her fingers and mouthing something. I lean closer to her, and I realize she's saying, "Jason. Jason. Jason, please."

I internally scoff. Of course she wants another popular to win. Of course she wants her friend. And to be fair, he's probably going to win, too. He's a pretty cool guy - insanely popular - and is crazy good at soccer. It just bothers me how she's not open to anyone else being her partner.

"Our second and final representative is… "

He draws it out, causing the class to groan and yell at him to "say who it is, already!"

"Ok, ok, ok," our principal chuckles. "Please congratulate Mister Perseus Jackson, your second and final representative!"

Wait…

What?

* * *

 **Ok, so I'm sorry for not updating for a really long time. Oceans Away took me a while, and so did coming up with a direction to take this story in. I was so stuck for the longest time. Finally, after probably a couple months, I created a new plot point which the story would revolve around (Zeus' Cup). Thank you, annabellethedoll for helping me through my dilemma-of-sorts. I really appreciate it!**

 **Anyways, I'll finally be starting this story officially. My updates will probably take a bit longer because, unlike Oceans Away, I don't have the chapters prewritten or pre-planned for this one. I'll kinda be going more with the flow, but I know the general plotline. Basically, I don't know how many chapters this is going to take.**

 **Anyways, sorry for the long author's notes.** **Please review, as always!**


	3. There's No Way

**Song for this chapter is _There's No Way_ by Lauv and Julia Michaels. Again, the lyrics themselves don't have much to do with the chapters. It's just the title. Mainly because I suck at making up chapter titles so the songs kinda help me with that. Btw, I also changed the last chapter's title to Breaking News instead. **

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 **Annabeth**

No.

 _No_.

There's no way I'm hearing this right. There's no way, there's no way, there's no way…

I look up at him. His emerald eyes are wide open, lips separated, eyebrows raise; he seems as shocked as I am, maybe even more. The fact that he could be the other representative for Zeus' Cup…

Oh _gods._

I'm going to have to _work_ with him. _The_ Perseus Jackson. The very one I swore to avoid because everything he does literally screws me over. _Every. Single. Time._ And he's the only person in this school that I _cannot_ stand (other than Drew, of course) and he's the only person in this school who is _impossible_ to work with and he's the only person I thought could never be my Zeus' Cup partner and… how am I going to do this?

In the corner of my brain, I register that Mr. Brunner is still speaking into the microphone, but his words mush together into gibberish in my head. What was he thinking? I mean, sure Percy's athletic and sure he's somewhat smart and sure he's not a _complete_ jerk, but _everyone_ knows the state of our relationship. Even the incoming freshmen have probably heard stories about how Percy Jackson did this to Annabeth Chase and she did this to him and how much they hate each other. The teachers literally cringe whenever we walk down the same hall or end up interacting in some way or another. Even the principal, Mr. Brunner, knows how much we don't want to be near each other.

How could he have even approved of this?

The moment Mr. Brunner's voice fades away, the whispers start. I can tell what they're saying, mainly because I'm thinking it too. _Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson? They're probably going to kill each other before they make a move against the other teams. Don't know who to feel sorry for: those two or the other schools' teams who have to hear them bicker all day. There's no way they're going to win this for us._

Mr. Hayes glances at us knowingly as he remarks, "Congratulations to our two winners this year: Annabeth and Percy!"

The class drifts into half-hearted applause.

Anger streaks across my veins. How _dare_ Percy ruin this for me? First the scholarship, and now this?

If _Jason_ had been chosen, the class would be thundering right now, cheering their hearts away. If _Jason_ had been chosen, the school would have been swept away from excitement that Goode could actually _win_ for once. If _Jason_ had been chosen, I might actually enjoy this experience.

Mr. Hayes meets Percy's eyes. "Hey. You guys can go now if you want. We're not doing much for the rest of class."

Percy's gaze flickers to me for a second, before he nods shakily. "Uh, sure. Annabeth?"

I glare at him, trying to make him shrivel in fear, but he shows no sign of being frightened. "What do you want?"

He cocks an eyebrow. Oh, the _nerve_ that boy has…

"Did you not hear Brunner? They asked for us to go to the office to talk about the tournament."

Oh.

Picking up my backpack and swinging it over my shoulder, I kick my chair out and get up. Without acknowledging Percy, I storm past him and out the door.

Without waiting for him, I walk straight towards the office, mouth set in a firm line. My palms are stinging from how my fingernails are buried in them, but I ignore the pain. Nothing compared to what I'm going to experience over the next couple months with Percy.

I push the door open to the office, where Mr. Brunner's waiting in the doorway, wheelchair and all. He smiles gleefully when he notices me.

"Ah, Annabeth. I'm glad you're here."

I scoff. "Didn't you tell me to be?"

Mr. Brunner frowns. "I should have expected this."

I throw my backpack down and slump into a chair. "All due respect, but yes. You should have. You _know_ how much Percy and I hate each other. Why did you do this? Are you guys that sadistic?"

Mr. Brunner wheels himself behind his desk. "Our decision to put you guys together was nowhere near sadistic. Both you and Percy are models of good character. You are both smart and athletic. You both have the drive to succeed. And the teachers did not make this decision lightly. We are well aware of the implications your, uh, _relationship_ could have on your performance in the tournament."

Behind me, the door opens and closes. Percy seats himself in the chair beside me. I clench my jaw.

Mr. Brunner gives him a warm smile. "Percy. Welcome. As I was saying, this match was not made on accident. While you both may not cooperate well as of yet, you both have valuable skills that set you apart from many of the other teams."

"As in…" Percy prompts.

"The key to a good team is not just cooperation. It is well-roundedness. The members on the teams should have _all_ possible holes in their skill sets covered. In this case, both team members must have skills on opposite sides of the spectrum to make sure no gaps are left unsealed.

"For example, Miss Chase, one of the other candidates for the Cup was Jason Grace, who I'm sure you know. The problem is that the both of you are too similar. Both of you are exceptional at agility and running. Both of you are very humanities and mathematics-oriented, regarding academics. You are also both dominant leaders. Had you two been partnered, nobody would be there to make up for all of the science questions you would miss or the swimming rounds you would be deficient in. In addition, neither of you have a sense of submission. You both would likely begin to clash in all decisions that needed to be made. Percy, on the other hand, balances out your skill set very well."

I try to revel in the fact that Mr. Brunner referred to _me_ as the leader and not Percy, but my mind is elsewhere. "Then why me and Percy?" I ask. "Why not Jason and Percy?"

Mr. Brunner smiles. "Two reasons. One, science has proven that men and women have different styles of thinking. We thought that, if anything, our team could benefit from that. Secondly, Jason and Percy hardly know each other, whereas you two have known each other for a long time. Even though it is not necessarily in a good way, you both know each other's strengths and weaknesses well. You would take less time to adapt to each other's personalities than two strangers would."

I blink. That kind of logic is hard to argue with.

Doesn't mean I have to like it.

Mr. Brunner turns to Percy. "Are you alright with that?"

Percy hesitantly nods. His hands seem to be shaking.

The principal claps his hands together. "Good. Now, I have a file here that details all of the information about this year's tournament, as well as the rosters for all participating schools. I want you to look at it _together,_ which is why I'm giving it to you, Percy. You would be far less likely to go on ahead without your partner."

Percy shoots me a smug look as he takes the file from Mr. Brunner, and _oh_ I just want to slap that smirk off of his face. My nails dig deeper into my palms.

"Well," Mr. Brunner concludes. "Are there any questions?"

Percy and I are both silent.

"Then you are dismissed. You are free to go, Miss Chase, Mister Jackson."

"Thanks, Chiron." Percy gives him a brief salute (what the heck) and ambles out the door.

I turn to Mr. Brunner, giving him the most pitiable, puppy-dog-eyed look I can muster.

Instead of garnering the slightest amount of sympathy towards me, he just chuckles. "Good luck, Annabeth. I hope you and Percy do us well."

I nod tersely at him and leave the room.

"Fat chance," I mutter under my breath.

* * *

 **Percy**

Literally an hour ago, I thought that I had a greater chance of getting a _girlfriend_ than being chosen for Zeus' Cup. But now…

My next period is PE. As soon as I enter the locker room, I'm met with partly jealous, partly sympathetic expressions from my classmates. I try to disregard them as I walk past. I don't need them to compound on my discomfort.

Nico walks up to me and taps my shoulder. "Hey. Guess who's in your class?" He gestures towards himself.

I laugh. "Yes! Thank you. I don't think I could survive another minute without someone tolerable."

Nico's mouth opens, but he falters, as if he doesn't know what to say. "I'm going to hope that's a compliment."

I wrap my arm around his shoulder. "I hope so too." Then, I pull my shirt off, grabbing my PE uniform from my locker. I look back at Nico, and weirdly, his olive skin is tinged pink. Is he cold, or...

"Anyways," Nico starts. "The announcement today shocked quite a few of us."

A knot forms in my throat. I groan. "Please don't bring it up. I'm still in shock. I don't know how it happened, or why the gods hate me, but Annabeth is giving me enough hell about it already."

Nico grins. "Don't worry, Percy. Other than the whole "Annabeth" part of it, I bet it's going to be really fun. It already is pretty revolutionary that a skater boy like you took a popular jock's spot on the team."

I slip my PE shirt over my head. "What did you just call me?"

"A skater boy?"

"I am _not_ a skater boy! What does that even mean?"

Nico counts off on his fingers. "Well, you used to love skateboards, you wear hoodies to school - with the hood up most of the time - every day, and let's not forget the beanies and the dark jeans and the - "

"Alright!" I exclaim. "That's enough. I get it." Slamming my locker door shut, I whirl around to face him. "Let's go."

PE isn't bad, at least for today. We've got Coach Hedge this year, who's rumored to be one of the strictest yet most badass teachers at the school. Apparently he's a sucker for violence, and he lets people get away with things that they would probably be suspended for otherwise.

We don't do much, considering it's the first day of school. Hedge goes over the behavioral expectations, constantly reaffirming that there are _exceptions_ to every rule, and ends the class with a set of twenty-five push-ups and fifty burpees. Thankfully, the workout isn't much different from what I do regularly, but Nico's panting heavily by the end of it.

"How - " he heaves. " - do you do this - so easily? It's harder than rocket science!"

"I beg to differ."

"Physics isn't bad… it's just very math-oriented."

"Like that makes it better," I comment. "You know how much I suck at math. There's a reason I'm not in AP Calculus like you are."

Nico shrugs. "I guess."

We walk out of the locker room together, entering into the main corridor. The school is nearly empty. Everybody must have gone outside to get picked up by their parents or drive themselves home.

Nico and I weave past whoever's left and exit through the front door. Hazel and Frank are waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey," Hazel greets. "Congratulations on Zeus' Cup!"

Before I can groan again, Nico states, "He's not very happy about it."

"Why no - ohhhhh." Realization dawns in her eyes. "Come on. It can't be _that_ bad to work with Annabeth, right? I heard she's very smart."

"That's the problem," I complain. "She thinks she's so much smarter than the rest of us peasants. So then she, like, gets inflamed whenever someone says something that threatens her dominance. She's just so… insufferable."

"I mean, she was nice last year when we were tablemates in history…" Frank cuts in.

Oh, the poor, innocent soul. "No! No, she is not, Frank. She may _act_ nice, but doesn't mean she _is._ " At least towards me.

Frank shrugs. "Ok."

I zone out as soon as they change the subject. There's just something about this whole situation that bothers me. Annabeth can't be the only one angry about this. The fact that someone like me got chosen while the rest of the populars and athletics were snubbed would probably not go through well with many of my classmates. I mean, it hasn't even gone through well with _me._ I'm still half-convinced that this whole thing is a practical joke. So how could everyone else be okay with it?

And even if the rest of the school was cool with it, what would this Zeus' Cup thing mean for me? Is it a good thing that I've been chosen? Do Annabeth and I actually have a chance at winning? Will it be fun, or should I quit while I can?

I mean, Zeus' Cup is pretty prestigious. There's a whole culture based around it, according to what I've heard. There are parties, fan bases, and fundraisers just for it that apparently all of the cool kids attend. I don't know _that_ much about the tournament beyond the rumors, though. I may want to look into it a bit. On the internet. Not in the files. I'm not going to pull an Annabeth and disrespect Chiron like that.

Anyways, other than all of the unnecessary attention it's going to bring me, I don't think it'll be half bad. It won't take up _too_ much of my time, so I can still focus on swimming and my grades. I'll probably be able to bring my friends to the parties and events, so that's gonna be sweet. The free stuff that we'll get from it also seems like a nice deal. The Annabeth part, however, will probably be a different story.

I mean, we could have a chance at winning, if Annabeth decides to cooperate with me…

Speak of the devil.

Annabeth Chase herself barges into our little friend circle. Behind her, resident duke and duchess of the school Jason and Piper are staring at me quite worriedly. "Hi, guys. Can I borrow Percy for a sec?"

I exchange looks with Frank. He shoots me a thumbs up and mouths, _Good luck_. I send him a half-smile and let Annabeth drag me to the side.

Annabeth's roughly a head shorter than me, but she's still pretty intimidating. She's giving me that glare now, the one that freaks out practically everyone in the school. The only reason it doesn't scare me anymore is because I've had it aimed at me way too many times. I'm used to it now, sort of.

"When do you want to meet?" she asks me.

I knit my eyebrows together. "What?"

"I said," she recites exasperatedly. "When do you want to meet to go over the file?"

"Oh. Um, anytime works, I guess. Except for tomorrow. I've got swim."

She purses her lips. "Ok. I'm taking the SAT the day after tomorrow and I've got stuff afterward, so does Monday evening work for you?"

I blink. I _think_ that would be okay…? "Sure."

"Good." She scribbles something in her planner and steps away from me. "See you then."

"Wait!" I call. She raises an eyebrow at me, body half-turned. "Where are we meeting?"

Her eyes widen. Her hands unclench. "Oh, um. I don't think we should go to my house."

"Ok." I think back to my apartment, which is probably really messy right now. Monday night… oh. My mom has a writer's course that evening, to which Paul's accompanying her, so neither of my parents will be home. And being at home with nobody but Annabeth Chase to accompany me? Thanks, but no thanks. "Can we meet in the library?"

"School library?" she asks. "That'll be closed."

"No. Public library."

She contemplates the idea for a bit. "Alright. I'll bring my laptop. You bring the files. Five o'clock sharp?"

I nod. She completes writing in her planner and walks back to Piper and Jason. She doesn't even look back at me.

Nico walks over to me. "Frank and Hazel had to go. You alright? Did she hurt you?"

I grin. "No. Honestly, I might have preferred she hurt me. Instead, I'm spending my Monday evening with her."

Nico scrunches up his nose. "Ew."

"Yeah. Wish me luck in advance."

Nico grabs me by the shoulder and stares deep into my eyes, all serious-like. "Good luck, my dear friend." Then, he cracks a grin. "Well, let's go. I don't think you want to relive that talk with her much longer."

He's sure got that right.

* * *

 **Hey guys! Thank you for reading! So a couple things:**

 **1) I'm kinda trying to mirror Percy's ADHD by having him go of on random tangents during his narrations, but idk if it's working. I'm also trying to mirror both of their thought processes, to make it seem less like I'm telling the story and more like they're narrating their thoughts. Let me know if I'm overdoing it or if it interferes with the story in any way!**

 **2) I know Annabeth sounds kind of "female-dog"-like right now, but I kinda wanted to show the height of her hubris, especially regarding interacting with the one guy she's been in a rivalry with since sixth grade. She doesn't want to concede, so she kind of tries to find reasons to hate him more. Percy's the same way, though on a lesser level, because he's significantly less prideful than she is.**

 **Anyways, how many of you celebrate Thanksgiving? Do any of you do anything special for the holiday?**

 **I don't really do anything for it, even though we have a whole week off in honor of it next week. I guess I'll have some free time to write this story. :D**

 **Please review!**


	4. Tell Me It's Ok

**First off, I'm really sorry. I know you guys wanted a start to the action, but I kinda need to shove in one more filler chapter. I promise next chapter you'll learn all about Zeus' Cup and who's participating and stuff, and then next chapter will be the beginning of the tournament. The good stuff's coming up, I promise. :D**

 **Secondly, happy Thanksgiving! I hope you guys enjoy today (and tomorrow, cuz Black Friday)!**

 **Title song is Tell Me It's Ok by R3hab and Waysons.**

* * *

 **Annabeth**

The moment I get home, I crash onto the sofa and call my goto, Luke.

Luke and I have had a long history. We first met at this park - Gateway Park - when I was seven years old. I had set up fort there, my first time running away, and Luke was trying to escape his own home life. We met in the sandbox, actually. I had been building a sand Parthenon, only for Luke to fall on top of it when I was halfway through. He, being polite even as a little boy, apologized and tried to help me rebuild it. It turned out okay. I mean, it was cracked, unstable, and lumpier than it had been the first time around. But even so, that sand Parthenon was the product of two pairs of chubby, clumsy hands that would eventually end up being woven with each other. Luke had taken hours out of his time to help me rebuild it, and we had managed to create something beautiful together. Something that, maybe, could be permanent. It gave me hope then, that maybe I could have a friend to hold me through it all, and it still does.

Anyways, after we finished the Parthenon, we exchanged names, made friends, and eventually, after I had gone back home and reconciled with my parents, met at the park to play every Saturday.

That relationship eventually progressed to a "best friends" stage, where he would practically live at my house and treat my parents like they were his own. We spent so much time together that I hardly remember a moment without him from those years. My dad even convinced Luke's mom (who is currently in a mental facility, don't ask) that she send him to the same summer camp I went to. We would literally be together for ninety-seven percent of the year.

I first developed a crush on him in sixth grade. Of course, that summer, Percy came and drama happened, but the next year, Luke and I became closer. And closer. And closer. Most boy-girl friendships have a stage, at least in middle school, where they drift apart because of boy-girl cooties and whatnot. We didn't have that. We would literally be attached at the hip, everywhere we went, no matter what. We would be made fun of for it, but we didn't really care. It was kind of funny, now that I think about it.

We got together when I was in eighth grade and he was a sophomore in high school. He asked me out one day when we were visiting Gateway Park, reminiscing about our younger years. He was so sweet about it, too. He was nervous and everything, even though I practically threw myself at him with a yes when he was three words in.

And now, we're three years and still going strong. We've been there for each other throughout our entire lives, and I can't envision a future without him. I'm so lucky to have him.

Anyways, the moment I touch down upon my hardwood floors, I dial Luke's number. It rings once, twice, before he finally picks up.

A loud shuffling sound emanates from the speaker. "Uh… hello? Annabeth?" I can barely hear him. His voice is drowned out by the sound of animated conversations. He seems to be somewhere busy.

"Hey. are you free?"

A raucous bout of yelling and laughing from the other side. Luke groans, "Sorry. I'm at a party right now. Give me a few seconds; I'll go somewhere quiet."

Conversations come and go as I listen to him walk through the party to a quieter corner of the room. "Yeah, hello?"

"I'm here."

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Luke asks.

"Um, well, you know Zeus' Cup?"

He gasps. "Oh my gods. That was today for you guys, right? How'd it go? Did you get in?"

"Yeah, I - " I pause. "I did get in."

"Annie, congratulation!" he cries. "Babe, you're going to have the _best_ time!"

"Not really," I remark. "Remember Percy Jackson?"

"The swimmer?" Luke confirms. "He's a nice kid. It's a shame you guys have that rivalry or whatever."

I roll my eyes. "Anyways, he's the other rep for Zeus' Cup."

"And…?"

"Luke! I can't work with him!" I whine. "There's no way in hell we're going to win this thing if I'm forced to deal with _him._ "

"Hey. Don't worry. It can't be _that_ bad, right?"

"You have no idea."

A crash echoes through the room Luke is in. It sounds like something glass has just shattered.

"Ooh," Luke cringes. "I don't know what that was, but it didn't sound good."

"Gods. College parties must be crazy."

"They _are_. You have no idea," he muses. He pauses for a second, then continues. "About Zeus' Cup, think of it this way. Take it as a challenge. You're going to encounter people you won't get along with _many_ times as you get older, especially when you get a legit adult job. So use this opportunity to improve your tolerance and your communication skills. Go about this diplomatically instead of trying to find reasons to hate him. If he refuses to listen to you, then you know you've tried your best and there's nothing more you can do."

"But-"

"Annabeth. Complaining about it isn't going to do anything. It isn't going to get Jackson kicked off the team. So make the most of it."

I hesitate. He's right, of course. Just like he always is. "I… okay."

"You good?" he asks.

"Yeah. Thank you, Luke." I love him so much. He somehow always manages to make my day better. "How's Harvard going for you?"

"Going okay. As you probably already realized, there's a party today, in honor of the first football game of the season."

Suddenly, a girl's voice slurs through the speaker. "You coming, baby?" Her tone is very flirtatious.

I jump in my seat. _Baby?_

I hear rapid whispering, and I can tell one of those voices is Luke's. A lump forms in my throat. I had some concerns about him moving so far away for college, but… he wouldn't do that, right? We've known each other for years. He wouldn't betray my trust like that.

Luke comes onto the line again. "Hey, sorry. Some drunk girl."

"Are you sure?" I ask. "Who was she?"

"Annabeth..." Luke's voice takes on a warning tone. "She's literally one of my teammates' girlfriends. She's wasted, and my teammate is blonde too, and yeah. You know I would never do that to you."

"Yeah. I do. I, I just wanted to make sure." I stammer.

"It's okay. I get it. Just… you can trust me, okay?"

"Okay." We dissolve into silence for a couple seconds, each relieved that we avoided any further tension.

"Sorry for bothering you about this," I sigh. "I'm keeping you from the party too long."

"No worries, 'beth." I can hear the smile in his voice. "You can talk to me whenever you need me. Love you."

"Love you too." I hang up the phone.

I spend a couple seconds staring at the wall. There's a TV right across from me, with framed pictures forming a halo on the wall behind it. One is of me, my dad, and my mom, roughly a year before she left us. Another is a group picture of me, my stepbrothers, my dad, and my stepmom. A final one is of me and Luke. We're grinning at the camera, Luke's arms around me. We're standing in the middle of an amusement park - Disney World, actually - without a care in the world about the people we're blocking or the crowds overwhelming us.

I stare at it for a while, simply reminiscing.

I shouldn't worry about Luke's faithfulness. Luke has never failed me before. What reason does he have to fail me now?

None.

I clench my fists. If he hasn't failed me in the past, he won't fail me in the present, and that's regarding his advice for me as well. I should give Percy a chance. And I should also take the initiative to drive our team to success. I have the capability of bringing my school a trophy. It's time that I make use of it.

After the SAT and tryouts, though.

* * *

 **Percy**

It takes me three days and three people to completely get over the fact that I've been chosen for the Zeus' Cup with Annabeth Chase.

Day one, it's my mom. It's a mortifying conversation about my first day that ends with my mom demanding me to "Be nice. Treat her like a lady, and then see what happens. I promise you that she'll regret being mean to you." Of course I'm going to listen to her, for two reasons. One, Annabeth regretting something has never happened, and I would love to be the cause for her first time doing so. Two, my mom is an all-powerful goddess; she can make me do anything for her. So keep that in mind, audiences. Whenever I'm being nice to Annabeth, even when she's being mean to me, it's because my mom told me to. Not because of the goodness of my own heart.

Day two, it's Grover who pulls me out of that abyss of thought. We're texting late Saturday night. We're just casually talking, mainly about Juniper because Grover wants to do something awesome for their two-year anniversary, when the forbidden topic comes up.

 **Grover** : so… how u feelin about zeus' cup

As soon as I see the text, I move down to the floor so I can repeatedly bang my head on the side of my bed.

 **Percy:** its gonna suck and im gonna fail miserably because i always do. like, whenever i need to do well on somehthing my clumsy ass goes ahead and fails everything and asdfksjdlfslkdfj

 **Grover** : bro, chillax

 **Percy** : easy for you to say

 **Grover:** no, legit. why do u feel like ur gonna fail? u dont even know what the competition is yet

 **Percy:** tru but still. and even if i dont fail annabeth's gonna find some reason to yell at me

 **Grover:** is this about impressing annabeth?

 **Percy:** hell no. heeeeeeeeeeeeell no. its just too many expectations

 **Grover** : like?

 **Percy** : well, my mom's already suuper excited about it so she wants me to win. annabeth obvs wants us to win. all the kids in the school are def really annoyed about how annabeth and i got chosen so i really wanna prove them wrong, that we CAN do this, and it's also really public so literally everyone will see my failures, and then idk. i guess i just dont want to screw up the one chance i have at doing something relevant.

Grover takes a long time to reply. When he does, though, it all feels kind of worth it.

 **Grover:** 1) bro, zeus cup is literally only in this city. if u go to like, california, nobodys gonna care. 2) all that matters to ur mom and us is that u do ur best. screw everyone else. theyre not gonna do anything to u if u dont do well anyways. if they do, i will personally beat them up with my crutches from last year. i still have them.

I go to sleep that day with a grin on my face.

Day three, it's someone that I don't expect. Jason Grace.

It's Monday at 4:45, fifteen minutes before I'm supposed to be meeting Annabeth. I came early because I was 90% sure that Annabeth would be standing here at 4:30, yelling at me for being late and not taking the competition seriously. Surprisingly though, she isn't that crazy, since she isn't here yet.

Anyways, I'm sitting at an empty desk in the corner of the teen section, scrolling through my friends' posts on Instagram, when Jason Grace himself comes up to me.

"Hey," he calls. "What's up, Percy?"

I eye him curiously. He doesn't look like he's messing with me, but the fact that the duke of the school would be caught dead talking to a social nobody like me is hard to believe.

"Nothing much. You?"

Jason shrugs and sits down across from me. "A little tired, but that's normal. You here for Annabeth?" His voice takes on a little tinge during that last sentence.

I immediately shift in my seat. If Jason was one of the contenders for Zeus' Cup, he's probably feeling pretty salty that he wasn't chosen, and worse, that _I_ was chosen in his stead. So talking about it would probably not be pleasant. "Yeah. What about you?"

"I'm supposed to check out a book for English, but I can't drive on my own yet, so I'm waiting for my parents to pick me up."

We sit there in awkward silence for a bit. The atmosphere is kind of tense, probably because of the whole Zeus' Cup thing. That, and we haven't actually talked to each other, like, ever.

"Congratulations," he bursts out. "For Zeus' Cup."

I purse my lips. "Uh, thank you. You probably deserved it more than I did, though."

Jason waves me off. "No. The teachers chose correctly."

I can hear the hurried bite of his words. It's still bothering him, the fact that he isn't participating. If it's so important to Annabeth, then it must have been really important to him too.

"Are you okay with it?" I ask. "Because if I were you, I probably wouldn't be."

He exhales deeply and weaves his fingers together. "Ok. I'm going to be honest. I want to be okay with it. You're a great swimmer and an incredible athlete in general and you're a pretty good student-"

I scoff loudly.

"- no, seriously. You have all the qualities that a Zeus' Cup participant should have, and I admire that in you. You definitely were chosen for a reason."

I continue for him. "So you're wondering if that means you're not enough."

Jason looks straight at me, blue eyes wide open and gleaming under the bright library lights. "Uh, yeah. Basically."

"Jason," I start. "This doesn't define you. You know that right?"

He nods hesitantly.

"Besides," I add. "teachers are teachers. They make wrong choices sometimes. And even if it isn't the wrong choice, it doesn't take anything away from you. They didn't choose the top two students in the junior class. They chose two opposites who would probably end up being well-rounded enough to hold fort for the school. It doesn't mean that you're any worse than you think you are."

Jason nods again. He bites his lip, and I notice a little scar on his mouth.

Suddenly, he addresses me. "By the way, the same applies to you."

I raise an eyebrow.

"This wasn't a fluke. You seem like you're beating yourself up over being chosen, but remember. You deserve it just as much as anybody else does, if not more"

"I bet you half the school will disagree," I snark.

"No, they won't," Jason argues. He's on the debate team, isn't he? "You may not be a so-called popular, but you're pretty widely respected. Literally everyone knows you, and those who do genuinely look up to you."

I glance up at him. "Really?"

He stands up and smiles. "Yeah. Really."

I'm about to thank him when he yelps, "Oh shoot. My dad's already here. I have to go, sorry. It was really nice talking to you!"

I wave goodbye to him as he dashes out the door, and I can't help but think he's a _lot_ different than I expected him to be. He actually seems like a pretty cool guy. I would be more than happy to make friends with him, if he ever decides it's a good idea to hang out with a lowly guy like me.

I jump in my seat when somebody drops a bag onto the table beside me. The person pulls the chair out from under the table and plops into it.

It's Annabeth.

"Good," she states. "I thought you would be late."

"Nice to know you have so much faith in me," I retort.

She rolls her eyes and pulls her laptop out. "You didn't look at the files, did you?"

"No. I actually _listen_ to teachers, unlike you." Oh wait. I'm supposed to be nice to her. Whoopsie. Too late now.

Annabeth audibly groans. "If you keep this up, today's going to be a long day."

"It's not just me, Annabeth," I reply. "Kindness should be mutual."

"Fine. Oh Your Highness, Perseus Jackson. Are you ready to get started?"

I pull the file out from my backpack and nod firmly.

"Ok," she affirms. "Let's do this."

* * *

 **And do it they will, in the next two chapters.**

 **Please review!**


	5. Ready For It?

**Percy**

Before I can even open the file, Annabeth pulls up a gajillion tabs on her computer. She sits herself up straight as if she's giving a presentation (which looks ridiculous, considering she's in a leggings and a crop top), and then clears her throat.

"Ok, so, do you have a generic idea of what Zeus' Cup tests for?"

I shake my head.

It's so painfully obvious that she's trying her best not to roll her eyes. "There are four rounds to the competition, the results of which are totaled to find the overall placements. Round one is always fitness-oriented. In past years they've done things like relay races, obstacle courses, jungle gyms, those sorts of things. Understood?"

"I speak English, Annabeth. I can understand you."

She raises an eyebrow tauntingly. "Are you sure?"

It's no use trying to play nice with her. I groan audibly. "Whatever. Just continue."

"Ok." She begins to count off on her fingers. "Round two always tests your knowledge. They generally do a trivia sort of thing, but the exact format changes from year to year. It could be a paper quiz, it could be Jeopardy-style, or something else. Regardless, we should really know our stuff.

"Round three is the mystery round. It always tests your skills on something other than what the other specified rounds do, and it could be literally anything. Last year, I heard it was something to do with music. The year before, Luke's year, it was to create an artistic rendition of a past piece of art, architecture, or sculpture, which was why he kinda sucked at it."

"Isn't info about past competitions supposed to be top secret?"

"Yes, but nobody cares," she dismisses.

"The people who run it probably care," I retort.

"Will you just stop?" she yell-whispers. "This information is _helping_ us, so you shouldn't have a problem with it. Besides, it's not like other schools play by the rules either!"

I decide to shut up. If I egg her on any more, she'll likely make a scene, and we're in the library.

She shakes off our dispute and gestures to another tab on her computer. "This is the official website. Apart from the stuff I just told you, they have basic rules that are probably all common sense. No intentionally hurting other people, no personal items allowed onto the competition premises, especially knives, drugs, etc, and they stress the secrecy part of it a lot."

"See, Annabeth?"

"Shut up. Open the file."

I do as I'm told, only to find a laminated cover page detailing the exact rules Annabeth just read from the website, only fancier.

"What else is there?" she prods.

I dig through the remainder. "Seems like a bunch of profiles and stuff for the other competitors. Hey, look! It's us!"

Sure enough, there's a page titled "Goode High School" with Annabeth and my portraits at the very top. Underneath the pictures, there's a list of all of our basic details, including full name, grade (even though all participants are supposed to be juniors), GPA, and a bunch of other basic stuff. The same information is listed for all other participants across the city.

Annabeth begins typing furiously on her laptop. Within seconds, she's pulled up last year's Zeus' Cup scoreboard. "The top three places last year were Hamilton High, Empire State High, and CC's Academy for the Arts for third, second, and first respectively. Pull out the files for the competitors from those schools."

I scramble through the pile, searching for the school names she listed. "What place did _we_ get last year?"

Annabeth takes another look at the scoreboard, then bites her lip. "Um, ninth."

"Out of how many?"

"Twelve."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

I stare blankly at the papers before me. Last year, these two really buff dudes, Chris Rodriguez and Dylan something-or-other, were chosen. They were varsity football players, and as far as I know, they were pretty smart, too. So if _they_ weren't able to get a good placement…

"It's okay," Annabeth mumbles, not quite to me, but not to herself either. "We've got this."

I shrug. No point in freaking out now. We haven't even started yet.

I pull out the three requested papers from the stack. "Hamilton High School has an all-girls team this year. Nyssa Barrera and a… Zoe Nightshade. Wow. She has a cool last name."

Annabeth peers over my shoulder. "Nice. CC's has a girls' team too, but they're an all-girls school, so..."

I point at the girls from CC's. "They look angry."

Annabeth and I analyze their portraits for a bit. Both of the girls have dark onyx eyes, glossy black hair, and a firmly-set jaw. Neither are smiling in their pictures. Judging by their identical last names, they seem to be sisters.

"Hylla and Reyna," Annabeth mulls. "They seem like they'll be tough to beat. GPAs of 4.3 as well. Must have taken quite a few APs."

"Don't you have a GPA higher than that?" I ask.

Annabeth nods. "Yeah, but they're far more muscular than I am."

"You muscles look fine to me," I blurt. Then, I realize how that could be taken the wrong way and how that is a totally inappropriate thing to say to your gods-forsaken _rival_ to say the least and ohh, gods. I am so stupid.

Annabeth totally ignores me, though. "Nyssa from Hamilton looks pretty buff too, and Zoe has that brilliant look in her eyes. Another tough-to-beat team."

"What about Empire State?" I ask. "Mitchell and Jake."

Annabeth skims over their descriptions. "Jake is apparently good at building stuff, so that's probably why he seems so big. Mitchell, I'm not so sure about him."

I scrutinize his portrait. He's not a bad-looking dude, with perfect skin, a radiant smile, and hair like a movie star's. He looks relatively fit as well, so I don't know why Annabeth's not treating him as a threat.

Oh well. Annabeth only believes what she comes up with herself. I don't think she's ever listened to anyone else in her lifetime.

As Annabeth embarks upon some further Internet surfing, I read through the rest of the school profiles. There's an Atlantic High School, which didn't do that bad last year at 5th place, featuring Bill and Triton (another cool name). Also, a Butch Walker and Walt Stone from Long Island High (4th last year), Michael Yew and Lee Fletcher from Golden Hills High (6th last year), and a whole bunch of other schools that I haven't really heard of.

Annabeth abruptly closes her computer. The sharp sound echoes through the library. "So we know the first round will be athletics. What do you propose we do to prepare?"

"I dunno. Go to the gym?" I lean back in my chair. "Aren't you the boss here?"

I earn myself a raised eyebrow. "We're supposed to be a _team_. That's the whole point of having two people competing per school."

"Oh really? I thought it was just backup, in case one gets killed."

"Stop with the sarcasm, _seaweed brain_. I don't understand why you always do this! Why are you constantly trying to get on my nerves?"

"I'm not!" I complain. "It's just that you're acting all prissy and proper as if you're the one in charge and you're _so_ much better than me, and based on what I know, that's NOT how you're supposed to treat your teammate!"

"Oh, _I'm_ the one acting aloof?" she snarls.

A sudden _ssssshhh_ emanates from the table a little ways away.

"Forget it," I whisper. "There's nothing more we need to do, right?"

Annabeth thinks for a second. "Not that I know of."

I push all the papers back into the file and stuff it in my backpack. "Then I guess we're done. See you tomorrow in school."

"Uh- see you?" she stammers. Her eyes are wide, mouth agape.

"What?" I question.

She steels herself once more. "Nothing. Bye."

I give her a brusque wave and head out the library, mind spilling with all the ways I can possibly get rid of Annabeth.

Problem is, I can't get rid of her, lest I want to make enemies with literally the entire school. I could also quit Zeus' Cup, but the much-needed prize money and possible publicity for my swimming is too much to give up. I guess I'm gonna have to let her make my life a living hell for the next four months.

* * *

 **Annabeth**

The next week is a whirlwind, and not in a good way. I'm literally forced to spend every day with Percy, in some form or another. Sometimes we're pulled out of class to participate in interviews or fill out forms for consent and liabilities and whatnot. Even when we're not doing something distinctly Zeus' Cup-related, he's sitting across from me in bio, tapping his gods-damned pencil and occasionally trying to get me to play Hangman with him.

At first, it sucks on a level that I've never known before. I'm pretty sure my friends are sick of me complaining about it all the time. But as the week progresses, as we start to become more civil towards each other, I realize that Percy isn't actually a terrible person to spend time with. He's actually remotely tolerable when he wants to be, and on Thursday, he was actually sweet enough to pick up a coffee for me in the morning, right before yet _another_ meeting with Mr. Brunner. I think, given the state of our relationship right now, we might actually be able to do okay in Zeus' Cup.

Speaking of which, the first round is tomorrow, and in honor of that, the school paper wants to get an "exclusive" on our game plan.

Percy and I are pulled out of AP Bio (again), and are transported to the journalism room by a student wearing a hall pass around her neck. She opens the door for us, and we walk in.

At the front, before the whiteboard, lies an old coffee table separating one ripped-up armchair from two creaky school chairs. A vase filled with fake flowers is placed on the scarred wood of the table in an attempt to spruce things up. The setup itself is such a rookie attempt to model a professional interview, I almost laugh.

"Why all this?" Percy asks. "Isn't this just an interview?"

The girl - Lacy, she said her name was - replies, "Yeah, but we're filming it. Our newscast wants it to put on their next video."

Percy opens his mouth to object, but I pinch his wrist. He yelps in pain.

"Let's sit down," I tell him, before choosing the chair closest to the interviewer. The closer I am to civilized society (meaning the farther I am from Percy), the better.

Lacy gleefully claps her hands together and hops into the interviewer's seat. She places a piece of paper on the coffee table so that she can read it easily but the camera won't see it. "Alright. Are the cameras ready, Austin?"

A thumbs-up protrudes from behind the ginormous setup. "Yep!"

"Let's get rolling!" Lacy exclaims. She folds her arms over her lap and waits for another girl to call "lights, camera, ACTION!" and close the clapboard with a resounding CLACK.

As soon as it happens, she directs her gaze onto us, lips curling into a coy smile. "This is Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, this year's Zeus' Cup participants, in the studio with us today! How are you feeling today, guys?"

"Um...okay?" Percy stammers, while I respond with a sophisticated "Great."

Lacy straightens her glasses. "Okay, so, as we all know, you have your first round of the competition taking place _tomorrow night_! Are you guys nervous at all? Excited?"

I shoot Percy a look, like, "I got this," which is probably a good idea considering Percy was a stuttering mess in our last interview. He smiles at me gratefully.

I cross my legs and begin, "We're both definitely a little nervous, but overall, we're looking forward to a great round. We're confident in our abilities, and we hope that they will help us win tomorrow's event."

"Hmm," Lacy mulls over my answer. "What about you, Percy?"

Percy's eyes widen. He straightens up. "Um, yeah. What Annabeth said."

"But how are _you_ feeling, in particular? I'm sure your selection as a representative was very… unexpected."

He starts to fidget. His nervousness radiates off of him in intense waves. "I mean, yeah. I didn't really expect it to happen, but now that it has… I think I just want to have a great time and make my family and friends proud."

"Aw!" Lacy holds a hand to her heart and faces the camera. "Did you hear that, guys?" She bats her eyelashes at Percy, which is honestly so ridiculously stupid of a move, I almost snort. Percy? Cute? Far from it, ladies. Run away while you still can.

She continues, "Anyways, our sources say that you guys have been assigned to meet at Waterland, that old, abandoned amusement park roughly half-an-hour away?"

I nod hesitantly. How does she know? All of this stuff is supposed to be strictly between Mr. Brunner, Percy, and me.

"What do you guys think of that? Do you have any insights that you can share with us?"

I take the lead again. "We're not really sure. It seems we don't know any more than you know. The only information we were given was to meet at an undisclosed location in Waterland."

"Are you guys allowed to bring anybody else?" She glances at Percy. "Family? Friends?"

"We're allowed to bring one person who is a junior or older. Phones will be collected upon entrance. They're very strict about keeping the events _secret_ for future participants."

"Who are you thinking of bringing, Percy?" Lacy avoids my gaze. She obviously doesn't like how I'm not letting Percy talk, though probably for her own shallow, boy-crazed reasons.

Percy states, "Probably my mom."

Lacy visibly swoons. "That is _so_ sweet! And you, Annabeth?" Her look hardens when it falls upon me. It takes all of my effort to keep from bursting into laughter.

"My best friend, Piper."

"Nice. So it looks like that's all we'll have time for today, but we'll definitely bring these two back for future interviews. Stay tuned, Goode High! We may as well be looking at our future Zeus' Cup champions!"

Austin yells out, "Cut!" The camera lights shut off, and he steps out from behind the setup, revealing chocolate skin and cornrows. He grins widely, and his white teeth literally gleam and sparkle. "That was awesome! Our next video is gonna have _tons_ of views, and Mr. P's letting me do the soundtrack for once!"

Lacy gives him a half-hearted smile, her eyes still trained on Percy. My feelings converge into a churning cauldron of amusement, pity, and annoyance. "That's awesome, Austin. Now, I wish I could keep you guys for longer, but unfortunately, school calls!" She begins twirling her hair at Percy, and she flashes him a seductive smile. "I'll see you soon, Percy."

Said person gapes like a fish. "Uh, s-sure," he stutters. As soon as the door closes behind us, he shakes his head wildly and asks me, "What the heck was that?"

I almost laugh. "She was _flirting_ with you, Percy."

"But… why?" He sounds so incredulous that I actually _do_ laugh.

"That's probably something that you should ask _her._ Not me."

We start walking back to bio in silence, when Percy suddenly remarks, "You know, you're not as bad as I thought, Chase. You're actually _nice_ when you wanna be."

I stop in my tracks. My breath catches in my throat. That is honestly the nicest thing he's ever said to me; it's so heartwarming. I literally almost shed a tear.

I give him a half-smile. "Thanks. You're not too bad either."

He shoots me that crooked, mischievous grin that always makes me want to slap him, but this time, it really doesn't. "Thanks."

Of course, that little sentiment fades quite quickly the next day.

* * *

The air is chilly, the clouds a foreboding gray as they loom over the crumbling parking lot. Slivers of sunlight filter through the thick masses up above, and gusts of wind blow autumn leaves across the dark cement. We're all huddled around a hastily-drawn mini-stage, wearing puffy jackets and caps over our workout clothes. All of the participants are shivering from the cold - except for me. I'm shivering from cold _and_ nervousness.

I glance at Percy next to me. He's wearing his usual gray beanie over that messy mop of hair. His gloved hands are pushed deep into his pockets. Beneath his unzipped jacket, he wears black sweatpants and navy Under Armour shirt that stretches tight across his chest, revealing the crevasses that are his abs and the slopes of his pecs and -

What? It's a fact! It's not like I'm observing anything that nobody else has.

With a huff, I dismiss my thoughts and look once more at the crowd of participants. Most of them are tall and muscular under their parkas and coats. They all have threatening demeanors, feet set apart and backs held straight up. A great number of them have that brilliant look in their eyes, like they're ready to take on anything. Like they'll rip any obstacle to shreds if it gets in their way. It's more than enough to unsettle me, but this is what Zeus' Cup is. A congregation of everybody who _wants_ to win. Everybody is here for a reason. There's no room here for those who don't care.

Suddenly, a cowbell of sorts rings from behind the scaffolded stage. Three loud clangs echo through the parking lot. In response, the whispers of my fellow participants fade into nothingness. Their eyes are all now focused on the stage before them. It's starting.

Percy nudges me excitedly. I ignore him so I can pay attention to what's going on around me.

A slightly pudgy man in a leopard-print suit steps onto the mini-stage. He teeters a bit on his way up, but regains his balance and turns to face us. His eyes are bloodshot and dark hair sticks up in all directions, kind of like Percy's, but _much_ less endearing. I mean, normal-looking. Much less normal-looking.

"Hello," he slurs. The entire crowd stares blankly. Is this some kind of joke? The dude running what's supposed to be such a hardcore competition is practically drunk?

He clears his throat, then continues. "Hello there, children. You can call me Mr. D. Or the Supreme Lord. Either works. Now, I presume you're all here to participate in this... competition?"

He's met with silence.

"Great," he deadpans. "Now here's what's gonna happen. You see this bingo setup we have here, with the cage and the balls? Well, I'm going to roll this cage until a ball pops out, and the ball will have the name of an amusement park ride on it. That ball will be assigned to the team seeded first in the tourney, and we'll keep pulling balls out until all of you teams are assigned a ride. Understood?"

A couple people snicker at the double entendre embedded in his words (Percy included, the immature butthole), but otherwise, there's no response.

"Cool. Now in case I forgot to tell you, which I most likely did not, these rides have been remodeled into obstacle courses, each with your school flag on the other end. Each of the courses vary in difficulty, so if you get an easy one, you're in luck. Your objective is to get through the obstacle course and get your flag. It's kind of like that game… what's it called?"

"Capture the flag?" someone proposes.

"No, no. Not that. I think it's…" he strokes his chin. Then, suddenly, he snaps his fingers. "I got it! It's capture the flag! Anyways, those who get easier rides have a better chance at winning, but if you do a relatively great job on a harder course, you will be compensated for. Ya got it?"

Noise immediately erupts from the silence as everybody tensely begins to discuss with their partners. Percy shoots me a look like, _is this guy joking, or what?_

"Can you guys shut up so we can get this over with and I can get to my nap?" Mr. D yells. "Please and thank you."

The parking lot recedes into silence once again.

"Alright," he states. "First off, CC's Academy for the Arts." Mr. D starts rolling the cage rapidly. The clattering sound of the balls within echo through the air, which grows thick with tension and anticipation.

A ball falls out of the hatch at the bottom of the cage. An intake of breaths. Mr. D plucks the ball from the table and reads aloud, "CC's Academy will be assigned to the Hall of Mirrors, which is an Easy level course!"

A couple sighs of relief are heard from the back of the group. The crowd parts for them, so they can take their ball, and the two girls are revealed. Black hair, dark eyes, tall and well-built - they look even more threatening than their pictures.

"Congratulations," Mr. D drawls. "Now for Atlantic High School!"

The lottery goes on for a bit. The teams are dealt a variation of Mediums and Hards, no more Easys, to their dismay. The poor team from Hamilton High gets an Extreme in the form of the ride Colossus. Not too much later, it's us.

"Seed number 7 of 12! Goode High School!" I hear a couple scoffs from beside me. One person even says, "Let's hope they get an Easy to make up for last year." I clench my fists. They'll find out what Goode High School is really capable of soon enough, when we ace this challenge. Regardless of what level it is.

Right?

Mr. D rattles the cage like crazy, and a ball flies into his hand. I can't help but hold my breath. _Please give us an Easy, please, please_.

He lifts the ball so he can read it, and his eyebrows pop up. "I would be sorry for you guys, but I am unfeeling. Goode High gets one of the hardest courses: the Thrill Ride O'Love!"

Percy bursts into giggles at the name of the ride, but the rest of the participants literally gasp aloud. I look around, only to meet a series of sympathetic glances and pouty lips. I turn back to Percy, who's incapacitated with laughter. Normally, I would kick him in the crotch for his immaturity, but 1) I'm too dumbstruck over the ride we got and 2) I need him functioning so we can brave the freaking _hardest_ ride in the entire amusement park.

Slowly inhaling and exhaling, I walk up to the stage and grab the ball from Mr. D's hand. The words _Thrill Ride O'Love - Extreme_ are printed neatly onto its side.

Percy's finally gotten over himself. He stands beside me. "Are they serious about us getting the hardest one?"

I nearly crush the ball inside my palm. "What, you think they're joking? That they'll take it all back and be like, never mind! You guys get the fairy princess ride! Percy, grow up! This is a _competition_. Not a game _._ There's a difference."

He sobers up, puts on a straight face. "No, sorry. I just… the name didn't really scream terrifying to me, you know?"

"Neither do the names Osama bin Laden or Joseph Stalin, but they ended up doing some pretty terrifying stuff. Just shut up and follow my lead."

I immediately feel bad for lashing out at him, but Percy listens to me, staying quiet until the last team is called. "Eli Whitney High School gets… the Ferris Wheel! Easy!"

"I feel like _everyone_ got Easy after ours was chosen." Percy mutters. "This is so rigged."

I tune him out as Mr. D concludes, "That's all for ride assignments. Please find the adult holding up the sign with your ride's name on it. They will walk you to your course and tell you all you need to know about it. Have fun, don't die, bye." With a flourish of his hand, he walks off the stage.

Everybody practically _runs_ to their assigned adult, save for us and Hamilton. By the time Percy and I reach the lady with our sign, almost half the crowd is gone.

The lady looks at us with warm brown eyes. "Hello. How are you today?"

"Okay," Percy states at the same time as my, "Not very good."

The lady chuckles. "I know. I'm sorry. The ride is pretty difficult to complete, though I'm sure you'll be able to do it. You seem like a very capable group."

" _Annabeth_ here," Percy accuses. "thinks that I'm not good enough to take on this ride. She thinks that she'll have to drag my butt across the course."

"Not true!" I whine, even though it is _kinda_ true.

"Regardless, I'm sure you'll do great," she smiles. "You can call me Hestia. I'll be your adult chaperone of sorts for this round. Come with me."

Percy and I nod politely. She keeps up some small talk as we walk through the windy amusement park streets, looking for the Thrill Ride O'Love, at least until it turns awkward. Then, we walk in silence, staring at the bulging horizon. My breath comes out in short pants, and I'm feeling the need to go to the restroom. I rub my hands together both to combat the cold and to reassure myself that we're going to be fine. Because we are. Yes. I'm freaking out for no reason, and in reality, the course isn't that bad. Mr. D just made it _sound_ bad, because he's a drunk jerk who knows nothing about why I'm here and what I am capable of. I. Got. This.

"There it is," Hestia's voice permeates through my mind's destressing attempts. Startled by her words, I look up.

Wait… _that's_ the Thrill Ride O'Love? Supposedly one of the two hardest courses in the round?

It looks like it's in shambles. Paint is peeling from the wooden backboards, which sport phrases such as "True Love's Kiss" and "Be Mine." The roller coaster track swirling through the skies are bright orange with rust, and parts of it are missing. Murky water swishes from side to side at the bottom of the structure, litter floating with it like miniature ships through the brown, dusty seas.

The course itself seems partly new. There's a starting line at a platform right beside the ride's entrance. Next to the platform, there's a gap, where I think we're supposed to jump over, followed by another platform running alongside a strange arrangement of cubbies. From that platform, it seems we need to jump onto this giant hamster wheel, because there's a long platform just beyond it. The problem is, that platform is blocked by a spiky fence. The blocked platform is obviously the way we need to go, though, because it leads to a dock of sorts, where a rickety boat lies. There's nothing connecting the dock to the next platform, which is connected to the flag's platform by a set of monkey bars. So that must mean we have to use the boat to somehow row ourselves to the other side, even though the water lies 6 feet below the platforms. Hmm.

Hestia sits us down at a picnic table right outside the ride. "Ok, kids. I know it doesn't look like much, but it is more difficult than the other rides your competitors are on. Your goal is to make it through this course as fast as possible. I'm not allowed to tell you anything more, except for one hint: the key to open the gate is to run as fast as you can."

The key to…

"Thank you," Percy extends a hand for her to shake. "We'll do our best."

Hestia nods her head in acceptance. "I sure hope you do. Annabeth?"

I shake her hand as well. "Thank you, ma'am." I hope she doesn't notice how violently my fingers are shaking.

"My pleasure. I'll be right here when the timers start, so I can call someone if either of you get gravely injured." Great. That makes me feel better.

A booming voice echoes from the speakers on the ride, "Zeus' Cup participants. Please approach your starting lines. The rounds will commence in one minute."

"Go," Hestia ushers. "Good luck, you two."

Almost in sync, Percy and I get up from the table and climb up the stairs. With every thump of our feet against the wood, my heart thumps even harder. I squeeze my eyes shut in an attempt to calm myself, but all I've done is given myself starry vision. Sweat drips from my palms as the alarms go off in my head. _It's starting, it's starting, it's starting_.

I shuffle to the platform from which we're supposed to start. Percy stands at the edge and looks down. "This is really high up."

"I know," I say. "Now get back from there, or you'll fall over."

"Yes, ma'am," Percy mocks, but not before looking down the edge once again.

Groaning, I grab Percy's arm and drag him backwards. He pouts at me and rubs his arm as if I've hurt him. "Are you ready for this?"

"Sure," I force. "You'd better stay behind me. Follow me and do as I say, and most likely, we'll be fine."

Percy eyes me curiously. "Are you not nervous that we're going to mess up?"

Oh gods, that's an understatement. My stomach is rocking violently right now, and pop rocks are bursting in my chest. My hands start shuddering, but I shove them in my pockets so Percy can't see. "Slightly, but it doesn't matter. We won't mess up if you follow my lead."

"Egotistic much?" Percy mutters quietly, but I ignore him. I begin stripping off my jacket and my winter cap. Percy does the same.

"Ten seconds!" the speakers announce.

"We've got this, we've got this, we've got this."

"Annabeth, stop freaking out."

"I'm NOT! Stand beside me."

Percy obliges. He bends his knees and tenses his body in preparation to start running.

"Three!"

Percy's hand grazes my shoulder. "We'll do great."

"Two!"

"Yeah," I gulp. Teeth begin clattering, so I clench my jaw. _We'll do great, we'll do great, we'll do great_ , -

"One!"

Our bodies lean forward as one.

"Let the first round begin!"

* * *

 **I'm so sorry for the late update. This past week has been so crazy for me, and it'll most likely continue for the next week or so. I'll try to update as soon as possible for the next chapter.**

 **Also, holdup, there isn't an official posting schedule for the story, though I try to update once every week. Of course, this last chapter took me a bit more than a week, but I made it longer to compensate. Thank you for asking!**

 **Title song is ...Ready For It? by Taylor Swift, of course. I honestly kind of feel bad for her, because everything she says or does, somebody finds a problem with it and blasts her for it. Everything she does is so controversial, but not because she's doing anything bad. More like because people just try to find a reason to hate on her, no matter how absurd it is. I'm kinda happy for her now that she's trying to keep her life mostly private now.**

 **Sorry, I just felt like mentioning that. I respect all of your opinions on it as well, of course. This one is just mine. :D**

 **Finally, thank you for all of your spectacular reviews! I would love it if you could continue to give me any feedback!**


	6. Underwater

**Hey, remember when Percy said Luke looked like a Harvard model in the Sea of Monsters? That's kinda why I chose to put Luke in Harvard. Just in case you wanted to know. :D**

 **Also, I changed a couple of things in the last chapter, so if you want to go back and read that, feel free. They're not like, _major_ changes, but they're not that minor either. Sorry, that was really vague. But anyways, you don't _need_ to read it again, but it would be awesome if you could.**

 **Let's get started!**

* * *

 **Percy**

The moment the starting bells ring, Annabeth and I dash down the platform, hairs raised and heart thumping. Annabeth leaps over the divide and steps to the middle of the next platform, waiting for me to jump.

 _Don't look, don't look,_ I murmur to myself. _Don't look down_ , and yet, because I am so good at listening to myself, I look down when I'm in midair between both platforms.

"Percy!" Annabeth cries.

My head shoots up just as my feet hit solid ground. I don't know why I'm freaking out this much over the height of the course. I'm not even afraid of heights. Disconcerted, I vigorously shake my head. I have to get out of this stupid anxious mindset.

The moment she realizes I'm safe, Annabeth grabs my arm. The action almost makes me smile. She's been significantly nicer to me since our first meeting, and I don't know what's up. Maybe our little yell session last week made her realize how rude she was being. "I don't know what these cubbies are for, but we've got to go quick."

Nervously, I nod, and together, we leap to the next platform, which is just large enough to fit the both of us.

Suddenly, almost as if it's answering Annabeth's question, a ginormous boxing glove shoots out of the cubby right in front of us.

"Woah!" Annabeth yells, just as I start to lose my balance. Frantically, I try to grab something, anything to keep from falling backward. "Annabeth!"

"Percy!" she cries, reaching for my arm. She latches her other arm onto the boxing glove in front of her so we both don't go toppling off. "Pull up!"

I hurriedly grab onto her bicep and push myself back up, just as a boxing glove flies out of the cubby right beside Annabeth's feet. She screams as she flails her arms, trying to keep her balance. Her feet tumble completely off the platform.

A shout escapes from my lips as I lunge for her waist. Gods, if Annabeth gets hurt, if we get canceled at the very beginning of the first round...

The moment I feel cloth, I grab it and hold on tight. I pull her flush against my chest.

"You okay?" I ask.

Annabeth is gasping repeatedly, trying to calm herself from her near-death experience. "Yeah. We've got to get out of here."

Nodding, I release her, and we jump onto the next platform, but not before I get punched in the face by a stray boxing glove.

"Ow," I complain, as I pick myself up from the platform, rubbing my sore jaw.

"Sorry," she replies. "Just one more platform and we're done with this."

"We've got the hamster wheel next, though. What if I fall facefirst?"

"Don't worry about that until we get on it. We have to hurry. The other teams will probably be finishing up their courses soon."

I glance at the ginormous timer a little ways away. It reads 2:46:17. The numbers in the millisecond slot rapidly change, while the numbers in the second slot are slowly ticking away. It gives me an apprehensive feeling, like we should really be watching our time.

"Ok," I confirm to Annabeth, and we leap onto to the last platform.

As soon as we reach solid ground, she states. "We should run on the wheel while taking strides at the same time, so neither of us trip and fall. Sound good?"

"Yeah," I agree. You know, Annabeth is right most of the time. It's just, when she's not, she can be quite insufferable. But times like now, when she's actually being civil to me and when she's making sense, she can be quite a good partner. And, as Mr. Brunner mentioned, a pretty good leader. Maybe it's just that she didn't want to be nice to _me_ at first. "Let's get it."

She cracks a smile - _yes, she_ actually _cracks a smile_ \- and counts off, "Three, two, one…" I lean forward and tighten my muscles. "GO!"

We simultaneously rocket off the platform just as a boxer glove bursts out of a cubby right where we were standing. We land with a shaky thud onto the top of the hamster wheel, which begins slipping backwards, counterclockwise.

"Go, go, go!" Annabeth urges, and we start running. I shorten my strides to keep up with her, and Annabeth slows hers down, and within seconds, we're running at the same pace, each swing of our legs matching each other's in perfect time, perfect speed, perfect sync. It's like we're finding our rhythm together without even having to say a word. It's almost amazing, how satisfying it feels, and I start to think that she may be a _good_ partner for me, instead of just a tolerable one.

I smile at her, but she's facing forward with a focused expression on her face, so she doesn't notice me.

"How long do we keep running?" I ask her.

She opens for a mouth for a second, before forcing out a hoarse "not sure". Oh, it must have taken her a lot of guts to say that. She hates not knowing things.

"What did the lady say?" I ask. "Keep running as fast as you can?"

"Yeah," she replies. "That's what we're doing, but I don't know for how much longer. There has to be something we're doing wrong. This is timed. There's no way they would make us run for so long."

"Maybe be a bit patient?" I shrug, but I'm feeling the intense temptation to just stop running and lie down. I'm already exhausted, chest heaving, though maybe it's just because I absolutely suck at running. Annabeth, on the other hand, doesn't look like she's broken a sweat.

Said person purses her lips. "Alright. Looks like we don't have much of a choice."

So we keep running for about a minute, before I make my best decision yet. I look down.

"Annabeth?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it just me, or are we sinking lower?"

She looks down. "Percy, the water level's rising!"

"Shit."

"No, Percy. It could help us! If we get it high enough, we could float over the gate."

"But then how will we get it back down to reach the flag?"

Annabeth sighs. "Well, we don't have much of a choice, do we?"

"Nope." I pop the 'p'.

"Let's go. As fast as you can."

I oblige. Our rhythm aligns once again, but a cramp flares up in my stomach. I inwardly groan. If only I was in better running shape.

The water level is just below our toes, now.

"Faster, Percy!"

We speed up, and the water rises up to our ankles.

"My shoes are wet! This is not good. They're new!"

"Percy, focus!" Annabeth demands. "We're nearly there."

Cool, murky water laps at my knees. My cramp intensifies. "What happens when the water lifts us too high to keep running?"

"Sucks for us!" Annabeth cries. "Keep running!"

Water sloshes around with every movement of our legs. It's getting harder and harder to keep our feet on the top of the hamster wheel, and I slip more than twice, only to catch myself with the water. It rises higher and higher, and now it's chest level for me. It's up to Annabeth's neck.

I look at the fence before us. The water laps at it a little bit below its spiked edges.

"That's enough, Percy! We have to get up there!"

Immediately, I let the water carry me up to the surface. Annabeth comes up along with me, and we start doggy-paddling towards the fence. The water level is still rising, rising, rising…

"There," she pants. "It's finally done. Can you throw me over?"

"Yeah," I exhale. I grab her by the waist and launch her over the spiked fence. The force of it pushes me back down into the water, but I manage to come up again.

"Percy? Is it far up enough that you can swim over?" Annabeth calls.

I paddle a bit closer to the fence. "Almost!"

"Ok, try when you feel comfortable. I'll grab the boat. Don't worry, I won't leave without you. I can't. The timer only stops when both members have crossed the finish line."

I slowly shimmy/breaststroke my way over the fence, careful to not let my stomach touch the spikes. "That's reassuring. Nice to know you care about me so much."

Annabeth snorts. "We're _rivals_ , Percy. I'm not supposed to care about you yet."

My leg brushes against a spike, sending a small shock through my leg. I recoil as soon as my entire body passes the fence. "So there's a yet?"

She rolls her eyes. "Get over here. I think the water level's starting to go down."

"What's the time?" I ask, as I doggy-paddle over to her.

She glances at the timer. "We're at eight flat. We'd better hurry. The Easys would probably be finishing up right now."

"How do you know?"

"Deductive reasoning. Now get in the boat."

But the odds, of course, have to be against us. The moment we both get into the boat, current machines turn on, and they're facing us, meaning the water will be flowing _against_ us.

Annabeth hands me an oar. "Come on. This is going to be hard, but we have to try."

Nodding, I grab the oar in the two places Paul taught me to put them - one towards the middle, the other at the top - and I begin to row. Unfortunately, the current pushes hard against the hull of the boat, and our rowing is no match for the power of the machines. Our boat, which is now dock-level, slams against the wooden platform. I hear a few splinters come loose.

"Annabeth, we can't do this."

She clenches her jaw. "There's no other way. Let's try again. On one, two, three!"

We push forward again, muscles straining and sweat collecting at bases of our throats, but to no avail. We manage to move a grand total of two feet (out of like, twenty), before the currents push us back again.

"We're going to have to swim."

"Wait, Percy, no! We won't make it! The currents are too strong!" Annabeth objects. "Besides, they gave us a boat for a reason."

"We already _tried_ using the boat. What else can we do?" I ask exasperatedly.

Annabeth takes some time in observing our surroundings. There's nothing above the boat, save for the rickety tracks, and the bottom of the course is probably thirty feet below us.

"Come out. Try lifting me up to the tracks."

"Annabeth, it's too dangerous. Those tracks are unpredictable."

"Just like those currents are! Let's at least _try_ it."

"How am I going to get up there, then?"

"You won't," Annabeth replies, as if it's obvious. "You're going to hold on to me while I try monkey-barring these tracks."

"Ok, no," I firmly say. "For one, those tracks won't even hold one person's weight, much less two. We'll fall before you know it, and water isn't that soft when you fall into it. Two, you probably won't be able to carry my weight on top of yours."

"What did you just say?" She crosses her arms. Her eyes narrow. Oh, shoot.

"No, not like that," I backtrack. "Like, I'm saying I'm heavy. Almost two-hundred pounds. I'm not doubting your capabilities."

"And you're saying _I_ can't carry two-hundred pounds."

"Maybe at first, but not for that much of a distance! Even I can't do that! _Jason_ probably couldn't do that!"

"So what, you're going to go on the tracks instead?" She taps her feet.

My eyes widen. "No. No way. I suck at those. I'm saying swimming would probably be a much better idea, and much easier."

Annabeth rolls her eyes. "That water's not _safe_ , Percy. The currents are too strong. They could easily overwhelm us."

"I'm a _swimmer_ , Annabeth."

"Even _swimmers_ can drown, Percy," she mocks. "Or you could get impaled by the dock when the current slams you into it."

"Stop being so concerned for my safety, Annabeth," I respond, pulling my shirt over my head. "It's not like you care."

"I care about winning, and I can't win if my partner dies or gets paralyzed!" she retorts.

"I won't die. You're overreacting."

"No, I'm not! There are people who have gotten seriously hurt in Zeus' Cup."

"No deaths, right?"

"No, but doesn't mean it can't happen! Percy…"

I ignore her pleas. Instead, I kick off my shoes, socks, pants, and I throw them beside my shirt, leaving me only in my boxers. Without turning back to look at her, I rub my hands together, exhale, and catapult into the water.

* * *

 **Annabeth**

For a scary moment, he doesn't resurface.

I can't even see his outline under the water. It's all pitch-black underneath and absolutely impossible to what's going on or whether he's okay or whether the current is preventing him from coming back up, and…

Oh gods, if he drowns…

Immediately, I kick off my own shoes and socks, and I kneel at the edge of the dock.

"Percy!" I call frantically. "Percy!"

No response.

Groaning, I prep myself to jump in the water. I've never been good at swimming. In fact, during swim PE in freshman year, I literally _lived_ in the kiddie lane. The one that's four feet deep. I have good stamina, but my strokes are just _horrible_. And considering I'm being forced to swim in probably the most dangerous circumstances I've ever seen, my nerves aren't exactly comforted.

Just before I jump in, Percy comes back up in the middle of our water path. "It's not too bad- " he begins, before the current pushes him backward, hard. He struggles to maintain his position, but the machines push him back and forth until he's right back where he started, at the dock. He catches himself with his hands so that the wood doesn't stab into his back.

The stupid, inconsiderate part of me goes, "See?", to which Percy gives me a nasty look. He tries to push forward again, but to no avail. He starts to stare angrily at the frothy brown waves.

"How did you get so far out?" I prod.

"I mean, I just dove, and floated underneath for a little while…"

It dawns on me the moment it dawns on him. "Underwater," we both gasp.

Percy continues, "We have to stay under for as long as we can. The currents don't reach that far down, so if you go deep enough, and if you take short breaths at the surface before going back down, we can make it! We can make it!" He grins at me so winningly, so genuinely, that I almost smile.

I fist-bump him. "There's only one problem."

The smile fades from his lips. "What?"

"I really suck at swimming, and the water's really deep."

Percy gives me a close-lipped smile. "No worries. I'll swim with you. We can make it!"

"But the tracks seem-"

"Annabeth," Percy groans. "Come on. Trust me!"

"Percy, are you sure we can't- "

"No. Let's go." He pulls me down into the water.

The water feels like a shock against my skin. It's freezing and biting and the currents strongly shove against me. I gasp wildly as soon as I resurface, flailing my arms. How can Percy expect me to do this? Wouldn't scaling a set of monkey bars be a LOT faster than this?

Gods, I never should have let him convince me.

Percy grabs me by the waist.

"You ready?" he asks.

"No," I whimper.

He smirks. "Go!" He grabs my hand and ducks under the water.

I take a deep gulp of air and follow him into that deep, dark lagoon.

* * *

 **Sorry for the late update! Things have been really busy these last few weeks. I was initially planning on finishing round one of the competition in this chapter, but if I did, then it would take me probably another week to update, and I feel like I've kept you waiting a bit too long. Also, the last line seemed like a good place to end.**

 **Also, have no fear! Percabeth will come eventually, though not necessarily in the next couple chapters. Sorry. :(**

 **This is kind of a slow-burn story, but I feel like they can't go from hating to loving each other almost immediately.**

 **Song is Underwater by Cody Simpson. I really like that song. I feel like it's really catchy.**

 **Finally, TrueColors459, thank you for asking! The truth is, I have no clue. I'm kind of taking this story as I go, since I have none of the chapters pre-written. I'm thinking it'll be twenty-something chapters, but I'm not sure exactly.**

 **Please review! I would really appreciate it.**


	7. Wish I Never Met You

**I am so, so sorry for not updating. I was out of town for the last two weeks, and I was also pretty stuck on this chapter. I hope it's okay, but trust me. I know it's not my best.**

 **Anyways, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I wish you all good luck on whatever comes next and I hope you all truly enjoy 2019! Preferably, it'll be _much_ better than 2018. :D**

 **Song is _Wish I Never Met You_ by Loote. **

* * *

**Annabeth**

It's cold beyond compare in the water. Shudders rack through my body as I try to get used to the chill. Beside me, Percy looks beyond comfortable, hair streaming behind his head as he glides forward. It's like the water is his natural habitat. It's not mine, though.

Gods, I really hope this works.

We resurface roughly a third of the way to the other side. I take a quick glance at the clock. Shoot. 11:22.

"Hurry!" Percy yells. He ducks back underneath.

Apprehensively, I follow him. I try to ignore the imaginary ticking of the clock hands pounding through my chest. Will we finish before the others? Or are we already too late?

It takes us a couple more breaths for air until we - _finally_ \- reach the other dock. I immediately lean against the pole supporting it, intent on taking a short little break.

Wait a second, _pole_?

I glance up.

Shoot.

Instead of the platform being right next to us, it's at least six feet _above_ us. Turns out, the water level didn't stop at dock level. It kept going down.

I reach frantically and shake Percy on the shoulder. "Hey. Look."

Percy's eyes narrow when he realizes our misfortune. "Can we climb up the pole?"

"It'll be hard, but not impossible." Immediately, I wrap my arms around it and shimmy upward. The wood chafes against my legs and torso, possibly leaving a couple minor scratches there, but I have no choice but to ignore it. The time is ticking. We have to get to the flag as soon as possible.

I attempt to speed up my pace, shifting faster and more vigorously. But just as I reach the top half of the pole, my foot slips on some algae coating the wood. I plunge back into the cold, cold water.

Percy helps me back up to the surface. "Try again," he urges.

Gritting my teeth, I oblige. This time, I try to go slowly, patiently. The thought of the clock tears at my mind, but I do my best to stay focused. One hand at a time, one foot at a time. Left. Right. Tick. Left. Right. Tock.

When I reach the algae, I'm careful to skip over it. I make sure my body is firm against the pole before calling down to Percy, "You should start now. Don't wait for me to finish."

I check to make sure he's started up the pole. Then I shift my foot up again. Left. Right. Tick. Left. Right. Tock.

My muscles are tired. My entire body is aching. But somehow, upon the last stretch, I latch onto the edge of the dock and I pull myself up. Percy follows about thirty seconds later, and I immediately drag him down the dock. I purposely don't look at the time. It's only going to give me more anxiety. More anxiety equals more mess ups.

I immediately leap onto the second bar of the monkey bars, skipping one with each swing, aiming to finish as soon as possible. Percy starts a bar behind me, but I don't look back to check his progress. I just have to _finish_ this thing.

I jump onto the last platform and leap over the divide. _Yes_. Finally. The flag.

Percy immediately joins me on the platform, and a buzzer rings out, startling me out of my senses. The giant digital clock on the side blinks in and out, in and out, like a warning sign. 15:59.

Right beside the clock, a scoreboard flickers to life on a giant black box. It displays all of the schools, ranked from first to twelfth, based on their initial seedings. Then, schools shuffle around on the board. Times appear beside the schools, and the best ones float up to the top. The scores I see are daunting: Empire State, 7:59. Eli Whitney, 8:24. Even Golden Hills, 10:53.

When it all finally settles, dread sinks into my stomach. Based on times and times alone….

"We're last place," Percy mutters.

Tears start to prickle in my eyes. No way. No way. _No way_.

If these standings are final, then by my calculations, there's absolutely _no_ possibility of us making it to first place overall in the tournament. The only way we can make it on the _pedestal_ is if we get top 2 in the rest of our events, which, based on our performance in this event is _impossible_. Literally impossible.

"I can't believe we're last place," Percy repeats.

My skin prickles in frustration. It's just so… _unfair_.

Beyond the ride, I can see Hestia waving at us, gesturing for us to come back. I steel my nerves and call on Percy to go.

The entire walk back down the newly-emerged stairs, I stay ahead of Percy, so he doesn't see my lip quiver. Even when he's picking up his clothes from the dock, I don't turn to help him. The same words keep echoing through my head. _Last place. Last place. Last place._

We're freaking last. And I've never been last in _anything_ , not in my entire life. Maybe second place. Third if I'm unlucky. But _last_? Unheard of. I've never thought of myself as so capable of failing, so utterly useless, especially in athletics. And now I've sunk down to the level of _last. Freaking. Place._

We reach Hestia, who gives us a look so saturated with pity that I feel the need to yell at her. I don't, obviously, but I really _really_ wish I could just kick a wall or something.

"Remember, guys," she reminds. "These are not your final placements. The judges will take into account how difficult your course was and weight your times based on that. For example, because you got one of the hardest courses in the park, your score will be considered better than somebody who got an easy course but completed it, say, one minute earlier than you."

"But nobody performed one minute earlier than us," I point out angrily. "The closest time to ours was St. Mary's Catholic, and they got 12:48." I wildly gesture towards the scoreboard.

Hestia purses her lips. "I don't know how exactly they'll calculate it, but trust me. You guys will definitely not be last place in the end. I promise you."

I hesitantly nod, but I don't really believe her. My mind is still stuck on those two words.

Hestia raises a finger. She looks puzzled. "By the way, you know the part where you had to cross the water?"

Percy nods.

"Well, obviously, the boat wasn't a good idea to use for crossing, so you guys were smart in ditching it. Five years back, when we first used this course, the team who got this ride kept trying out the boat, again, and again."

"What time did they get?" I sniffle.

She places her hand on her chin. "What time did they get? Hmm. I don't remember. I think it was around 16 minutes."

I freeze up. What the heck? She's calling us _smart_ for not doing something that got us the exact same time as the people who did it?

She thinks for a couple more seconds, then waves herself off. "Regardless, it was okay that you swam across, even though it seemed like a major inconvenience. Ugh, I _asked_ those stupid people for some _towels_ … anyway, what you would have found, if you pulled at the ride's track, is that it would have come down, along with a ladder that would be the perfect size for you to cross."

Immediately, I perk up. "What?" Did she just say, _if I pulled at the track?_ Like I told Percy we should do, multiple times, before he insisted that we freaking _swim_?

"Yeah," Hestia remarks. "So Annabeth, if you had continued with your plan of monkey-barring through the track, the first portion would have fallen off and revealed the ladder. It would have been kind of difficult to get across, and you might have gotten caught in the area between the rungs, but the holes were much too small for you to fall in the water."

My fury elevates. I cross my arms. Percy glances at me, looking a bit scared. _Good_. He'd _better_ be anxious.

Hestia abruptly gets up from the table. "Alright, kids. I'll go check on your towels. You two take a break here, and by the time I'm back, the final calculations should be up. Don't worry. You'll be fine."

She takes one final look at the both of us, seemingly apprehensive about the prospect of leaving us alone together, before leaving. To be fair, she's probably right. Percy might be dead by the time she comes back. Courtesy of me.

The moment she's far, far away, I pounce. I begin my attack with my classic glare, which is only met with a Percy very interested in his shoes. I follow it up with a frustrated, "This is why you _listen_ to your teammate."

Percy bites his lip. "Ok, look. I thought it was a good idea, okay? It's what I'm most comfortable with, and I knew we could-"

"It doesn't _matter_ what you're 'most comfortable' with, Percy!" I retort. "What we should have chosen would be the fastest way to get across! Even if my way wasn't exactly the right one either, we should have at least _tried_! Because then we would have found the ladder, and then we would have gotten across!"

"Well, I didn't _know_ that there was a ladder there!"

I'm yelling now. "Neither did I, Percy, but we should have _tried_! That's all I'm saying. For once, why is it so hard for you to admit I'm right?"

"I'm not saying you're wrong!" he shouts back. "I'm saying that in the situation, my choice was perfectly okay. Swimming wasn't a terrible idea!"

"Yes, it _was_ , Percy. It was slow. It was stupid, going against the current. It was probably twice as dangerous as my idea. And if you had let me take over and use the tracks, we would have saved minutes. Not just seconds, Percy, _minutes_."

Percy clenches his fists. "I _know_ , Annabeth. I _know_ it would have saved minutes and I _know_ we would have gotten a higher place if we had done what you wanted to and yours was probably the better choice, but don't you dare f-ing tell me that my idea sucked. It was a _lot_ less crazy than what you initially wanted to do and you know it. It's always about putting other people down, isn't it?"

"I don't people down- "

"Are you crazy?" he cries. "That's all you ever do! It's always that _Annabeth_ has to be right, _Annabeth_ has to be the hero, you're so f-ing entitled, all the time! Can't you ever give anyone else credit for _anything_?"

That's when the first tear slips down my face. I wipe it up in a frenzy. "You know _nothing_ about me, yet you want to take everything away from me. You don't even want to recognize how much this competition means to me. I know you don't give a shit about it, but it means the _world_ to me. I've wanted to win it ever since I first heard about it in middle school, and _you_ just waltzed in and you _ruined_ everything! Because of you, I've got no chance! Not anymore. Gods, I wish I never met you!"

Percy sneers at me in disgust. "You're never going to stop being so selfish, are you?" He takes one last look at me, then walks away.

I slump onto the table and bury my head in my arms. Tears wet my sleeves as my sobs rack my body. It's not even about the last place anymore, or fear that I won't be able to make it through the competition. It's just, what Percy said about me. I mean, just last week, I sacrificed a full week of SAT study time just to tutor Piper in physics, I took Bobby and Matthew to Disneyland instead of going to a sleepover that Thalia held for just us, too. It's not like I'm _selfish_ , like Percy said…

But even though I keep disproving his insults with counterexamples, his words still nag at the back of my brain. What if they're actually true?

* * *

 **Percy**

My blood boils as I storm away, hands stiff in my pockets. Why does she constantly need to express her superiority over everyone else? Why is she just so gods-damned insufferable when somebody questions her? It's just _so_ frustrating. Yes, I may have played a part in delaying our time and I feel sorry for that, but it wasn't like I _knew_ it would end up badly! It wasn't like I knew her idea was the better option and still decided to choose mine!

Frustratedly, I kick a rock to the side of the path. It's just so _unfair_.

"Percy?" A female voice asks.

I look up. It's Piper,

"What?" I reply.

"I - " She sounds like she's about to tell me something, but one look at my face and she frowns, deciding against it. Instead, she says, "Have you seen Annabeth?"

I look away, gesturing behind me with my thumb, and I keep walking forward. As I go, I start feeling a little bad for dismissing Piper like that, but I'm too angry to make any amends for it.

A little ways down the path, another voice. "Percy!"

My eyes widen. "Mom!" I cry. I start running towards the sound of her voice.

"Percy!" she calls out, and I see her as she turns the corner, emerging into the middle of the road. "Oh my gods, come here."

Obliging, I run towards her and throw myself in her arms. She smells of cinnamon and chocolate.

She runs her hand through my hair. "Oh, Percy. Don't worry about your standing. You guys did the best you could."

I pull back, wiping my nose. "That's not what I'm worried about, Mom, though I _am_ kinda bummed about it. I'm just mad at Annabeth."

She places her hands on my shoulders. "Why?"

I give her a quick run-down of the situation, and she listens intently. When I finish, there's pity in her eyes. "Oh, Percy. She's just stressed. Trust me, she doesn't blame you for what happened."

"Oh, really?" I ask. "Then why did she literally say that to my face?"

She brushes a strand of wet hair out of my face. "She doesn't mean it, Percy. Trust me. She'll come around. Now let's go home. You've had a long day."

* * *

They email us the final placements shortly after we get back to our apartment. Annabeth and I end up in eighth place, right above Midtown Tech and right below Empire State High. We got a raw score of 400. I'm not entirely sure what that means, or what calculations those people did, but apparently the lowest scores get the highest placements, and the lowest raw score was 231 by CC's. They've probably got the competition in the bag. They're followed by Hamilton and Atlantic High. On the flip side, the highest score was 416, which isn't too far away from ours. Just another example of how much I suck.

I keep checking my phone the next couple days, hoping for some sort of an apology from Annabeth, but I don't get one. That has me thinking whether _I_ should apologize, but that doesn't make sense does it? Wasn't _she_ the aggressor, the one who accused _me_ of doing something wrong? I mean, I admitted to my mistake, she just hasn't admitted to hers. So why should _I_ be the one to apologize?

Either way, when I return to school on Monday, I'm met with disappointed stares. Nobody's actually seen the course or whatever happened during the competition, because only the competitors and the people in the viewers pit (ie. my mom, Piper), were allowed to see it. But there have been whispers. And considering that the popular groups direct 90% of the whispers, Annabeth's probably spreading the news that I was the one who ruined her chances at winning.

Classic.

I pass by a trio of girls who give me the stink eye when I look over. I raise my eyebrow at them, and they turn away.

Gods, please don't let this be Mean Girls 3. Boy-edition.

I find Nico standing with Hazel and Frank in the morning. They all look at me sympathetically, like I'm a charity case or something, and I'm just so sick of it that I avoid pretty much all my friends for the rest of the day. I know they'll text me about it later, but I'm really not in the mood to deal with it or anything right now.

Annabeth sits in the back of the room during bio, instead of across from me. I know exactly why she does it, and I'm pretty sure Mr. Hayes does too, so he just lets it be. When I reflect on the whole day after school, I realize that everybody's avoided talking about the event to me. Almost like I have a 'kick me' sign on my back. Everyone keeps giving me those fleeting glances, but nobody actually says anything to my face.

I spend the rest of the afternoon finishing up homework and playing video games. I debate skateboarding around the neighborhood, but then I realize I might bump into someone from Goode, so I decide against it.

After helping my mom with some chores around the house, I make it an early day. I succumb to sleep quite easily, which usually isn't the case when I sleep as early as ten, but I can't help but wonder, _can it get any worse from here?_

* * *

 **Again, I'm so sorry for updating so late. I'll try my best to do the next one faster.**

 **Another random note: I did a _lot_ of calculations to figure out the placements for these guys along with every single other team in the tournament. I have like, a Google spreadsheet of all 12 teams' placements in all the rounds, plus their overall placements and every member of every team. It took me quite a while to make, lol. But who knew making a fanfic could require so much math? :) (Also, did you notice that Spiderman reference in this chapter? Comment if you did.)**

 **Also, Lazy Sloth, I'm so sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to write the fic you asked for. I already have quite a few fanfics on my to-do list, and I've never actually read a non-canon fanfic before, so I'm not sure I'll be able to write one either. Again, I'm really sorry. Maybe someday, but not in the near future. :( Thank you, though, for your compliments!**

 **Finally, thank you all for your reviews! My goal is to get more reviews on this one than Oceans Away, though I don't know how realistic that'll be. Speaking of which, if you ever find the time, feel free to check out my first fanfic Oceans Away, and my other one-shot You Belong With Me. I'm actually really proud of the one-shot, and Oceans Away probably has the most original storyline I'll ever create.**

 **Thank you, and see you guys next week (hopefully)!**


	8. Torn

**Ok so, because I gave you an excessively long wait time between the last two chapters and because I last-minute made a chapter in the last two hours and because there have been a lot of misconceptions about Annabeth being a big fat jerk (which, she was a big fat jerk without the fat part, but I kinda wanted to make it emotionally real and if I just lost any chance of winning the most important competition in my life because of a decision that I didn't make I would probably want to take it out on someone), but I want to stress the part where she feels bad about it. Because she _does_. She's not inhuman. She's a person. And people, especially Annabeth, make mistakes. And when they do, more often than not, they don't want to admit it. Which is why when they do, especially stubborn people like Annabeth, we have to appreciate it, and make the most of it.**

 **Yes, I'm speaking from personal experience. Getting mad at someone for constantly trying to prove themselves right is like an endless cycle. You get mad, then they get mad, then you get mad, then they get mad, etc. In these kinds of cases, it's more important to be kind and understanding and just make the most of it with what you've got.**

 **Plus, I realize that I accidentally made it seem like Annabeth was the aggressor and Percy was the victim. That was never my intention. I should have made it seem like they both were being equally rude to each other. I should probably go back and edit that some day.**

 **Sorry for ranting. It's late at night and I probably should get some sleep. Good night! :)**

* * *

 **Annabeth**

You know that inevitable feeling when you've held onto something for so long, and for a second, you thought you could stay attached? Like you're hanging off the edge of a cliff, and for years and years, you've been dangling from the side, But then suddenly, something happens, like an earthquake, and then you find yourself losing your grip and you're slipping, slipping, and you know that one day, you'll find yourself falling down that cliff with nothing to bring you back up. And what makes that so much worse is that you've held on for _this long_ , and yet, you still fail.

Honestly, that's probably my worst fear. Failing. Apart from spiders, of course.

And look at me now. Living my fear. Yay.

These last few days have been hell. I didn't talk to Piper about anything when she came to pick me up after the competition, which isn't normal for me, because she's my usual victim when I'm venting. And I kind of feel bad, because I haven't really talked to her, or any of my friends, since. But weirdly, they haven't talked to me about it either. They haven't tried to draw it out like they normally do. I think the entire school's just picked up on my mood, and maybe Percy's, and automatically was like, _BEEP. BEEP. ALERT: DO NOT TALK TO THEM ABOUT ZEUS' CUP_.

Honestly, I'm grateful for it though. No awkward moments of people trying to make me feel better. No having to come to terms with the fact that, yes, both Percy and I made mistakes and that we should have handled it better. No mental breakdowns either.

Well, actually, that last part is a lie. I can't remember a single night since the competition that I haven't fallen asleep crying.

But anyways, moving on. I sit in the back now, in one of Mr. Hayes' extra desks, during AP Bio. It gives me my prescribed distance away from Percy without having to ditch bio altogether. I think Percy's caught on to it as well. His friend group sits farther away from us now, around the corner so we don't have to see each other every time we look up. It's relaxing… I guess. It's just, every time I think of him, there's a new ache in my chest. I can't really put a finger on its cause. Maybe it's guilt from lashing out at Percy, maybe it's getting last place, maybe it's even because I'm suffering from a rare heart disease.

Again, a lie. It's the first one. Definitely the first one.

And I'm honestly so, so sorry I did it. I was just, I don't know. I was stressed, I was so anxious about our placement, and I just, I don't know. I reacted without thinking, and I shouldn't have done it. I've been trying to work up the courage to talk to him, to apologize, but I'm a coward. I admit it. Wholly. Completely. I am a stupid, dumbass coward.

Especially now. I'm staring at Percy like a creepo, sitting across the room in bio. He can probably feel my gaze on him (gods, I hope not), but he doesn't look back at me. _Thankfully_. Otherwise, that would be awkward.

"Annabeth?"

I flinch. Apparently, I failed to realize that Mr. Hayes was standing right beside me this entire time. "Yes?"

"Are you planning on working on your quiz anytime soon?"

I stop chewing on my pencil and glance down at my paper. It's empty. I glance at the clock. Fifteen minutes left before the period ends.

Sighing, I readjust my pencil in my hand. "Yessir."

But he doesn't leave. He just kneels down next to me and knits his hands together, placing them on my desk. "Whatever you two are going through - ". He throws a fleeting glance in Percy's direction. "I recommend talking about it. The tension between you two is very tangible, and I'm not a huge fan of it."

I nod slowly.

He looks back at Percy. "Talk to him. At the end of this period, and I'll let you make up the quiz with the full allotted time. If you guys take a long time, I'll even give you a hall pass. I have a free period next, so you can use this room. I can leave if you want."

I nod again.

He places his hand on the back of my shoulder. "You're a good kid, Annabeth. Smart, definitely. But also stubborn. And putting you together with Percy, based on what Paul says, means you'll clash a lot. Mainly because Percy is very, _very_ impulsive, and you can't let an insult go. So when he says something stupid…" He trails off. "Just talk to him. Trust me."

I can't trust my throat to talk, so I give him a final nod.

The next fifteen minutes tick by slowly, like there's some heavy weight preventing the minute hand from progressing. My stomach gets all syrupy. My hands start violently shaking. I literally feel like throwing up.

And then the bell rings. And then I'm ready to quit, I'm ready to give up but…

 _Oh, Annabeth._ The angel on my shoulder says. _You know you have to do it. Besides, if you don't talk to him now, Mr. Hayes won't give you the quiz makeup._

The devil on my shoulder stays silent. I speak for her. "Percy!" I call.

He looks up, searching for the culprit who called his name. His backpack drops off his shoulder when he realizes it's me.

"Hi?" he asks.

My legs are probably wobbling like crazy, but I walk up to him anyway. "Can we talk? In here?"

Percy's mouth is agape. He looks helplessly at Mr. Hayes, who shrugs, and back at me. "Uhhh, sure?"

Sighing, I pull a chair out for him at a desk. Then, I seat myself across from him. "I have to apologize - "

"No, wait. Stop." Percy holds a hand up in the air. "Before you do, I think I have to."

It's my turn to be surprised. "No! Wha-"

He places his palms flat on the desk. "I called you selfish. You're not."

"What makes you say that? I have done some pretty selfish things lately," I admit.

He gives me a small smile. "Really? You talked for me in all of our interviews, not because you wanted to, because I know you're a pretty big introvert on the inside. I know that you would much rather die than be on TV and talk in front of a crowd. But you talked for me because I wanted you to, because I indirectly asked you to, because I knew I would mess up."

"But-"

"Remember that day, the day after our little meeting where we started yelling at each other like crazy? I slept in that day. Couldn't eat breakfast, and you know how much I eat. Yet somehow, I opened my locker that morning and found a bagel, one of the expensive ones, with cream cheese, a muffin, and a Starbucks coffee sitting in there. Fresh, like someone had just put it there. I _know_ it was you."

"But I felt-"

"Don't say you felt bad, Annabeth. I was plenty unfair to you too. I've thought some pretty rude things about you. I purposely kept egging you on in some cases, knowing I would make you angry. Yet you spent $15 to $20 dollars on me and that's not counting the coming examples."

"But-"

"And then you would actually talk civilly to me, that entire week, and treat me like I was your friend, and all that week, I was complaining about you to my friends. I would exaggerate my stories too, and I highly doubt you did the same with yours, because none of them gave me the stink eye. Did you talk behind my back about me to your friends?"

"No, but-"

"Annabeth, stop it. I'm in the middle of a monologue." He runs his hands through his hair. "And then the day before the tournament, there was a basket waiting for me in the kitchen. I assumed it was my mom who had left it for me, but I asked her about it later on, and she had no idea about it. Paul said he found it outside on the doormat and brought it in. It had ten pounds of candy in it, and it was all blue. That was you, wasn't it?"

I stay silent. It _was_ me, but I'm not about to admit that to his stupidly humble, kind, and trying-to-find-reasons-to-blame-himself self. It would only strengthen his argument.

"I know you've done some pretty mean things to me too. But the difference between what I did and what you did was that yours was because of your personality. You're naturally stubborn. You're naturally averse to admitting you're wrong. You affix yourself to what's always been because that's the way you _are_. You can't change your personality, Annabeth. I bet that you came to apologize for saying that my idea was bad, but the thing is, you called it bad because of your personality. You were devastated about losing and you searched for a scapegoat. That's your _nature_.

"But me trying to coax a reaction out of you during our meeting and even sometimes during school, me talking badly about you behind your back, heck. Even me insulting you that day at the competition, that was all intentional. I _meant_ to do that. I did it on _purpose._ I _wanted_ to hurt you, for my own messed up reasons. And now, I hate myself for it. My mother raised me better than that. She raised me better than to take my anger out on others. And yet,"

He places his hand on mine. There's nothing loving about the gesture, nothing that implies anything. It's a simple reassurance. Nothing more. "Yet I did it. I hurt you, intentionally. And you, by your nature, unintentionally, kept deflecting until it was too much for you. Until you finally couldn't stand it anymore."

"It's not your fault." I croak. "I don't blame you. If anything, it's me. Actually, it _is_ me. There's no contest about who's at fault it is. You could ask anyone in the world. If you tell them this story, with the facts, they're going to agree with me that it's my fault."

"You may think that. Anyone in the world may think that," Percy smiles. "But I don't blame you either."

"And nobody's at fault when nobody blames anybody!" Mr. Hayes helpfully chips in.

We both stare at him. He blinks for a second, then shrivels up. "Sorry. Back to my work in 3, 2, 1…"

Percy rolls his eyes. "But anyways, it means a lot to me that you're apologizing to me. I know that it's really hard to do that for you, and I'm not trying to be sarcastic or rude or anything."

He pauses. Then looks up at me, to my face, for the first time in the entire conversation.

"You're a great guy. You know that?" I say. "There are so many guys who are self-indulgent, and entitled, and cruel, but you're not one of them. As much as it pains me to admit it, Jackson, you are legitimately an awesome guy. I don't think any girl could possibly deserve you."

Percy pretends to flip up his collar and slick back his hair. "Thank you. And you're a pretty cool girl. You're capable of being kind and you're honest and strong and independent, and unlike those girls who stab each other in the back when you're not looking, everything you do is to that person's face. You've never done anything mean to anyone without them knowing it's you, and even then, you always have a good reason to. You're always straightforward about things. That's what makes you so special."

We stare at the table silently for a moment, before I decide to speak up. "Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"You know that Minotaur horn from seventh grade?"

His voice takes on an edge. "Yeah?"

"That was an accident. Thalia was being bullied by one of the eighth graders, and she was angry, and you know how she gets aggressive at times. And she was venting, and then she accidentally pushed me, and I bumped into you."

He raises his eyebrows. "Really?"

I nod. "Well," he admits. "I didn't do the prank last year."

"What?"

"It was the Stolls. They framed me."

I gasp. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you wouldn't have believed me?" he replies.

That might have been true. I was too angry at him then to believe a word out of his mouth.

And since we're apologizing for all the things we've done to each other, I decide to continue. "I'm sorry for insulting you and being rude to you after you won the award. I should have congratulated you."

"And I'm sorry for starting the whole insult war. It wouldn't have started if it weren't for me taping that rude message to your locker that day."

"I'm sorry for ignoring you at camp in sixth grade."

"I'm sorry for retaliating by tipping your canoe over in the lake."

"I'm sorry for stealing your blue cookie on your birthday."

"I'm sorry for stealing your entire lunch for your birthday _week_."

Naturally, it turns into a marathon for attempting to one-up each other.

"I'm sorry for putting that "Tickle me" sign on your back."

"You only did it because I stupidly decided to hang your backpack on the tallest tree in school."

"Which you did because I was dumb and said you weren't potty-trained yet in front of your crush in middle school."

"Which you only did because I hid Luke's fidget spinners in an attempt to get to you. Definition of pure nastiness."

Immediately, Mr. Hayes hops up from his desk. "Guys! Guys! Stop! It's time for you to go to your classes. Here are your hall passes."

He blinks. Then grins. "Hey, I rhymed! Tell that to Paul, Percy."

Percy laughs. "I will."

We both pick up our backpacks and head out the door. Before I can fully lose my courage, I ask him, "Why do you guys keep referring to Mr. Blofis like you're close?"

Percy raises his eyebrows. "You don't know?"

I shake my head.

"Annabeth, he's my stepdad!"

Excuse me. What?

* * *

 **Song is Torn by Alec Chambers.**

 **Sorry if that extra long rant up there made you dizzy and/or mad and/or tired of me. You can ignore it if you'd like. I just wanted to let you know the behind the scenes author intention thingy, but it's up to the reader's interpretation. That's the beauty of literature, is that we can form our own opinions and our own dreams and interpret the same list of words in so many different ways. K, I'll get onto the useful stuff now, like replying to a review.**

 **Thank you for asking, TrueColors459! As of now, yes. I will be only focusing on Wordlessly. Once I near its end, however, I might start publishing the sequel to Oceans Away, and then after that I'll put up the next fanfic I've been meaning to do, which is a Starstruck spoof. Working title for that is Starry-Eyed but it'll probably (hopefully) change. As you can see, I prefer to work on one fanfic at a time, but sometimes I publish one-shots in the middle of a story whenever I need to get my mind off of it.**

 **Also, this will only be Percy and Annabeth's POV. I probably should do a story with more than their POV, but I don't really know if I can incorporate that in this one. Sorry!**


	9. Good Enough

**Another filler chapter. Sorry, guys!**

 **Song is Good Enough by Alison Wonderland. I really like that song. It's pretty hardcore, though.**

* * *

 **Percy**

Annabeth sets her book bag down on the table and draws out a folder. "So I got into contact with our school's quiz bowl club, and its president gave me this huge list of their general knowledge 'gotta knows'," she remarks, placing her hands on her hips. "How about that?"

I grin. "Sounds like a nightmare."

She gives me a playful push before sitting in the seat across from me. Bio hasn't started yet, so right now we're just waiting. And Annabeth, being the nerd she is, decides to take advantage of it by opening the folder.

She skims through it for a second, before looking back up at me. "We're going to need to create flashcards."

I sigh. "Annabeth, we have less than a _week_. Tell me how we're supposed to memorize all of this stuff in that period of time."

She gives me a _duh_ look. "Study them, of course."

"And you'll have time for that?"

She pushes her hair over one shoulder. "I mean, I can stay up a half-an-hour later each night to study them. And if we split them, then it'll take even less time. But we've got to _make_ time for this if we want to push ourselves back up to the top."

I decide not to mention the fact that there's a very _very_ low chance that we'll 'push ourselves back up to the top. "Ok," I say. "Which ones should I take?"

Annabeth drags her finger down the page, trying to decide a splitting point. "Hmmmmm…"

Clarisse slumps into her spot beside Annabeth, and her eyes take on an evil look. "The princess is back in her seat, I see. Kissed and made up with Prissy?"

Annabeth doesn't take her eyes off the paper. "Don't call me princess, Clarisse," she says in a bored voice. "I am anything but."

Clarisse replies, "Yeah, right. You're rich, you're popular, you're-"

"Shut it, Clarisse," Annabeth snaps.

I half-expect Clarisse to throw Annabeth into the trash can, but she just shrugs it off and turns away, smacking her notebook on the table. Travis takes her place in the conversation. "It's true, though. You guys seem a _lot_ more friendly with each other than yesterday. Anything happen in particular?"

I raise my eyebrow at him. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Travis."

"What?" Travis whines. Then Katie taps him on the shoulder and he's done for. He practically runs out of our conversation to talk to Katie.

That's when the bell rings, saving Annabeth and I from an insanely awkward silence. Mr. Hayes gets up from his desk and greets us. He then says the dreaded words, the words that has every single member of the classroom either cower in fear or perk up in excitement, depending on one essential detail. "I will be assigning you guys a group project!"

Everyone frantically tries to catch his or her friend's eyes, gesturing wildly about whether they'll be each other's partner. "And _no,_ you cannot choose your partner."

Groans echo throughout the room. Somehow, I'm not one of them. I normally would be, but I don't actually know anyone in this class, apart from Annabeth of course. And I'd rather not work with Annabeth on yet _another_ project.

"I'm sorry," Mr. Hayes claims. "But I am one of those teachers who you will eternally hate who believes in meeting new people and forging new relationships. That, and working with people who you hate so you can learn to deal with even the worst of situations."

I'll be darned if the entire classroom isn't looking at Annabeth and me right now.

"And who knows?" Mr. Hayes continues. "Maybe this person will end up becoming your best friend!"

Mr. Hayes clears his throat., before announcing, "Who is this person, you ask? Why, it's the person across from you!"

Of course. _Of course_ Mr. Hayes does this to us. Honestly, I bet that he just came up with this so Annabeth and I could work together. If Annabeth and I had sat _next_ to each other instead, he would have told us to work with our elbow partners.

And as much as our enemyship is somewhat dissolved, the wound is still fresh. It's like, binding a stab wound with a Band-Aid. Actually, no, That's a bad analogy, because a Band-Aid is going to fall off for sure. But Annabeth and I are still unsure whether this truce will last or not. The last truce didn't. But then again, that wasn't an official peacemaking. That was more of a "I'll be nice to you, you be nice to me" arrangement.

But that's besides the point. What I mean to say is, there's no telling how badly this will go. There's always the likelihood that the ties will break and we'll go back to screaming each other's faces off again. And that is something I do not want to risk, especially given that we're in Zeus' Cup together.

I sneak a glance at Annabeth. She's visibly gulping, trying not to look at me. I guess she feels the same way I do.

Mr. Hayes picks up a stack of textbooks. "I'll be handing out one textbook to each team so you can start your research in class, but you _will_ end up having to work outside of school. I'll give you the instructions for our project shortly after. In the meantime, it would do you well to exchange contact information and plan the project."

He begins passing out textbooks, and Annabeth turns to me. "I mean, we already have each other's contact info, so…"

"Yeah," I awkwardly agree, looking down at my fingers in my lap. "So… any idea what this project is about?"

Annabeth places her chin in her hand. "Well, I haven't checked the class calendar in a while, but Jason told me it's something about the origin of life."

"Jason's taking this class?" I ask.

"Yeah," she says. "Period two."

I nod a bit tensely. "Cool. He seems like a pretty nice guy."

Annabeth tilts her head sideways. "You've met him?"

"Uh, we talked in the library, before our first tourney meeting." I gesture wildly in a random direction, hoping it's where the community library is.

Annabeth stares at me for a second, before stating tersely, "You talked about Zeus' Cup, didn't you?"

I look up at her. Her eyes are brighter than normal, and it feels like they're dissecting me, searching for something to latch onto. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

She smiles. "Don't worry. I'm not a mind-reader. Jason told me."

I'm taken aback. "Then why did you ask me?"

She shrugs. "I don't know. I just wanted to hear your perspective."

She wanted to what? That's kinda weird. I don't think I'll ever understand girls and their strange whims.

Mr. Hayes comes back to the front of the room and brandishes a stack of paper. "So here are your project instructions. Read them and begin your projects today. Remember, the more time you spend in class, the less time you have to deal with each other outside of school. Let's get to work, guys!" He starts passing the papers out.

The moment we get ours, I read aloud the instructions, "'The first part of your project will be about the Miller-Urey experiment.' Hey, isn't that the compound in pee?"

Annabeth facepalms. "No. That's urea. Urey is a dude."

"Oh," I remark. "That's an unfortunate last name. Anyways. 'Your project has three parts. Part one will be about the origin of life. Part two will be regarding population interactions. Part three will be about food webs and food chains. Oooh. That last one's easy."

I look up to find Annabeth scribbling in a small notebook. "What's that?" I ask.

"It's my planner," she mentions, matter-of-factly. "Do you not have one?"

I blink. "Uh, I'm not really the planner 'type'."

"Meaning you don't like to plan."

"Exactly." I grin. "You get me."

Annabeth rolls her eyes. "You should get a planner. It's a lot easier to keep organized that way. And you won't forget your homework."

I freeze. I have been the culprit of that mistake _waayyy_ too many times.

Annabeth gives me a winning smile. "See? Everybody needs a planner."

I roll my eyes. "Anyways, part one's the Miller-Urey experiment for our group, and apparently we have to make a physical poster on it. The requirements are listed on here. We need to write about its setup, results, and importance, and oh my gods I'm falling asleep already."

"Stop joking around, Percy," Annabeth scolds. "Unless you _want_ to spend more time with me, working on this project."

I sit up rapidly in my chair. "No ma'am."

Annabeth grins. "So let's get to work."

The first part of the project isn't due 'til next week, so naturally, Annabeth insists on putting our focus towards the next round of Zeus' Cup. Apparently, it's a knowledge-based round, and whatever the format be, I'm going to need to _know_ stuff.

Ew.

I mean, it's not that I'm against learning or something. It's just, I am nowhere near as brilliant as Annabeth, or Jason, or really any of the other candidates. I'm probably even the least qualified person to do this round out of all of the participants. And as much as she tries to avoid the topic, I'm pretty sure Annabeth knows it too. I'm simply not as well-versed or as adept at school as she is. All I can do in this round, I guess, is to not pull her down. Or actually contribute to our efforts, but I'm not sure I'll be able to do that.

Either way, I have to prove myself. Of the flashcards that she's given me, I've studied every single one of them at least ten times in the last three days. I've memorized literally everything Annabeth assigned me,. Even when I'm not actually _studying_ , the facts are in the back of my mind, constantly yelling, _remember me! No, remember_ me. _No, me!_ I can only hope I don't forget all of them when the competition comes up.

Speaking of which, the actual competition is tomorrow. It's supposed to take place in this community college roughly ten minutes away, which I suppose kinda makes sense.

On another note, Annabeth and I haven't been called for another interview. It's probably because the school's given up on us doing well in the tournament anyway. Literally nobody talks about it to us nowadays, versus prior to Round 1, it was _all_ people brought up. Yet another reason to try and prove myself.

The morning of, my mom makes me blue pancakes. I drown them in syrup, as if I'm trying to drown out the notion of me failing this round as well, therefore disappointing Annabeth and _permanently_ ruining our chances to make it onto the podium. I don't want to be the cause for another failure, yet again. And this time, if I screw up…

Paul dutifully watches the syrup pour out of the bottle, forming a ginormous puddle in the middle of my pancake. "You okay, Perce?"

With a jolt, I turn the syrup bottle rightside-up again. "Hmm? Yeah. Of course!"

He gives me a small smile. "You'll do fine. You're a smart kid, Percy. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise."

Sighing, I set the bottle down. "It's not that. Well, it's _kinda_ that, but not really. I just-" Paul raises an eyebrow. "I don't really want to let anyone down."

He reassuringly places a hand on my shoulder. "You know what I thought when I first met you?"

I meet his eyes, waiting for his answer.

"I thought, that's a kid who really _really_ … loves pancakes."

I snort.

"No." Paul shakes his head. "What I _actually_ thought was, that's a kid who's scared. That was my hypothesis, at least. Your reputation as a troublemaker? You were scared of committing to a world that had done nothing but tear you down. Your clothing choices at the time? Dark, dark, and dark? You were scared of standing out, because your ADHD and dyslexia made you stand out already, and _not_ in a good way."

He sits down in the seat next to me. "Nowadays, I see you in school, I see you at home, and I realize that you've pushed through those fears. Somehow, you stayed strong. You're no longer scared of committing. You're no longer scared of being different. But there's one fear that I still see in you, to this day. You wanna know what that is?"

"Fear of waffles?" I quip sarcastically.

"No," Paul grins. "You're scared of letting other people down. You're scared of failing to protect the people you love. Now, by protect, I don't just mean keeping them from harm. You feel the need to constantly keep them happy, to give them your all. And I want to remind you, Percy, that you don't _need_ to. You don't need to do things for _us._ You've got to do things for yourself.

"In this case, you're scared of letting us, Annabeth, and your school down. Don't worry about that, Percy, because no matter what, our opinions of you won't change. Now the only person you need to impress, here, is yourself. Got that?"

I nod. A whiff of warm, buttery pancake catches my nose. I inhale it slowly.

Paul ruffles my hair. "You good?"

I can only nod again, because my mouth is already stuffed with blueberry pancake.

"Good," he affirms. "Because I'm hungry." And then, he does the unthinkable. He grabs a pancake from the middle of my stack, and puts it on his own plate. _His own plate._

"Phey!" I yell through my mouthful of pancake. Cackling, Paul places another pancake on his plate and runs into his bedroom.

I am _so_ getting him back for that.

It's Mr. D again. He's wearing a pink leopard-print suit with fuzzy cat slippers and a Rolex watch. He keeps periodically checking the time, as if he can't wait to get out of here and go party with some zoo animals.

The rest of the competitors are assembled in the classroom with us. It's almost like a mini high school cafeteria in here, meaning there are multiple cliques already forming. Of the discernable ones, there's the 'I'm-cool-and-muscular' guy group, including the guys from City Heights and Atlantic High School, the 'I'm-too-good-for-you' girl group with the girls from Hamilton and CC's, and the 'I-just-wanna-have-fun' co-ed group consisting of Golden Hills, Empire State and Long Island High. The rest of us aimlessly walk around with our partners. It's no surprise that a majority of the loner teams are in the bottom half of the group, placement-wise.

"Did you study?" Annabeth asks, looking slightly concerned.

"Yeah," I confirm. "I wonder what format it'll be."

Annabeth sighs. "Yeah. That's the question of the day. Let's just hope we do well, no matter which way this thing goes."

I turn to face her. "What are you talking about? We'll do great! Smartest girl in the school and a boy who's slightly smarter? Definite chance at winning."

I love the feisty look on her face. "Slightly smarter boy, huh?"

I cross my arms. "Yup. What are you gonna do about that?"

We have a mini-staring contest, but she breaks it too soon. "This is pointless. We _both_ know I'm going to answer more questions than you are."

I lean across my desk to place my elbows on hers. "Oh, really? Why don't we make a bet?"

She sticks her tongue out at me. "I win, you buy me a coffee. You win, you buy me a coffee."

"Hey!" I cry. "I'm not a little kid, to fall for that."

Annabeth places her fingertips over her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know! I thought you were a toddler stuck in a teenager's body!"

Have to admit. It's a little bit true. "How about this?" I propose. "I'll buy you a coffee if you win, but if _I_ win, you have to record yourself calling me the world's hottest genius and send the recording to me. You are not allowed to delete it."

Annabeth gasps, "That's not fair."

I shrug. "That's what you get."

She scrunches her eyebrows in thought, obviously trying to figure out how to trick me into giving up that bet, or finding some sort of loophole in it. Before she can find one out, though, Mr. D frantically taps on his mic. "Hello? This thing working? Oh, goody. Let's begin."

A slideshow appears on the screen behind him. A college student sits off to the side, evidently on projector duty.

"Welcome to round 2 of Zeus' Cup! As many of you know, this round is largely knowledge-based and is rooted in trivia. If you're a decathlon and/or quizbowl participant, then you're in luck!"

I notice that Mr. D's eyes keep scanning back and forth and aren't trained on his audience at all. I look to the back of the room, in the direction he's looking, and I realize there's literally a projected script for him to read off of on the back wall. Rolling my eyes, I look forward again.

"This round will be a written test with twenty question, all of which must be completed within a twenty minute time period. There are no exceptions. You will be escorted to your own, separate room by a parent volunteer where he or she will time you for twenty minutes and collect your paper once time is up. There is one paper per team. Those are all of the rules that you need to know. Presentation end."

He blinks, then continues. "Okay! Skedaddle!"

In a burst of conversation, everybody gets up from their seats and heads outside, where Mr. D claims the parent volunteers are waiting. In the midst of the line, Annabeth and I see Hestia, who's waving happily to us.

"Hello again! It's nice to see you two!"

"Nice to see you as well," Annabeth states politely.

"Alright," Hestia replies. "It's high time I get you to your room. I'm very excited for you guys. I can feel it! Something amazing is going to happen!"

I appreciate Hestia's optimism, but I don't think either of us is buying it. "Let's hope so."

She stops in front of a door. "Room 18, here we go. This is your stop, kids. Come on in!"

So we enter. It looks like a typical college classroom. A whiteboard at the front, a projector at the back, and rolly chairs with desks extending across the room. On a desk at the front of the room stands a very large timer that reads 20:00. It gives me a little PTSD, a throwback to round 1 of the competition. Not good memories.

Hestia stands behind the desk, gesturing for us to sit anywhere. I look to Annabeth.

"Let's sit in the middle. Seems like an okay choice," she decides. I don't particularly care where we sit, so I plop myself down next to her.

Hestia brings us both number two pencils. She gives us two each. "In case you break one of them. If you break both, come yelling for me. I'll be right outside the door. But don't come outside. You're not allowed to come outside until you've turned in the test." She grabs a piece of paper from under her armpit and places it facedown on Annabeth's desk. "You kids ready?"

Annabeth looks to me. I give her a slight nod, then I give Hestia the same.

"Okay. Don't flip the paper over until the timer starts. I'm starting the time in 3, 2, 1, GO!"

Hestia darts out of the room, leaving Annabeth and I to our own devices. Annabeth flips over the paper and pushes it closer to me.

First question. _What is name of the Aztec goddess of the moon?_

What the freaking hell?

* * *

 **A little bit of banter between these two, which is honestly my favorite part of Percabeth. Yeah, the mushy stuff is cute, but I absolutely love when they tease each other and/or playfully argue like that. To me, it shows that a relationship is really honest and grounded, and I feel like it's a sign of being comfortable with somebody. Of course, there isn't going to be relationshippy Percabeth for a little bit, so let's enjoy this while we can. :)**

 **Also, I would really appreciate any feedback you guys have. If it's too aimless or boring or if you want more action, please let me know. I really want to make this a great story for you guys. :D**

 **Have a great week, and I hope I can finish the next chapter by the end of this week! Let me know if you have any questions or if you have any feedback for me. I would love to hear from you!**

 **\- goldskies7120**


	10. New Light

**Hey guys! I think my posting schedule is going to be somewhat every two weeks now, mainly because school sucks, but also because my creativity/writing skills are slowly diminishing, probably because of point A) school sucks. Whenever I'm stressed, it's like my, like, 'flow' disappears, and I can't really write anything. :(**

 **Anyways, thank you for staying patient with me. I hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

* * *

 **Annabeth**

I nearly have a panic attack when I see the first question.

"What the heck?" I say. "Who asks about Aztec myth? It's all t's and l's everywhere!"

Percy shrugs. "I mean, the Aztecs would probably appreciate this question."

"Do you happen to be secretly Aztec and know the answer to this question?"

"Nope. But then again, are there any other competitors who are secretly Aztec and know the answer to this question? Probably not."

"The girls from CC's are Latinas," I recall. "They could be familiar with Aztec mythology. And what if somebody on the roster just happens to be an expert on Aztec mythology?"

"Relax," Percy advises. "Let's move onto the other questions, and if we can't answer those, then we can freak out."

I raise an eyebrow at Percy. He seems completely serious. I don't think I've ever seen him freak out before. He always seems so calm, all the time.

Sighing, I state, "Alright. We're supposed to have one minute per question, but it'll probably be easier if we split up the test and review each other's parts when we're done. If you don't know the answer to a question, skip it until you're done with your part, and then consult the other person."

Percy nods. "Sounds good. Should I take the first half, you take the second half?"

Since when has Percy been so willing? Isn't he normally trying to _not_ do boring things like take a test?

Stunned, I agree. We position the page so we can work on our respective parts at the same time.

Next question: _What is the derivative of 6x^_ _5_ _?_

Oh, that's easy. That's just calculus. I rapidly scribble the answer of 30x^4 on the page.

Then, _what species includes the largest living turtles on Earth?_

I blink. I have no clue. Would it be a tortoise? Those can get pretty large. Or would it be a sea turtle? They're also asking for species, and neither tortoise nor sea turtle is a species. They're both families. I don't know the names of any specific species of turtle!

Percy's pretty ocean-oriented. Would he know?

Helplessly, I glance at Percy. His expression is focused, his green eyes trained on the paper as he transcribes the answer to a question. His tongue sticks out of his mouth a little, and I don't think I've ever seen anything so pink. His entire demeanor honestly surprises me. He seems so determined, so concentrated, so...

The word _cute_ flashes across my mind, and instantly, I expel it. He looks so serious. That's what I mean. He looks very serious, something so different from what I've seen around school and camp that I question whether I'm sitting with Percy or an imposter. Is this really what Percy is capable of?

I think I'm starting to see him in a new light.

I glance at the timer. 17:34. If I want to finish my part by the halfway mark, I should be done with three questions.

Whoops.

I immediately glance at the next question. Oh, easy. The narrator of The Great Gatsby is Nick Carraway.

Within moments, I'm done with the rest of the questions. I skipped one more question - a basketball question, because I am woefully behind regarding team sports - but other than that, the questions seemed really _easy_. And not just because I studied. In general, the topics mentioned were basic, very much unlike the obscure stuff that Luke complained about a couple years ago.

Percy scribbles a final letter and exclaims, "Done!" We both glance at the timer. 12:42.

"That was quick," Percy comments.

I nod. "Yeah. Was it just me, or did that seem weirdly easy?"

Percy agrees with me. "Yeah. Like, I didn't even use the stuff from the flashcards we studied. I already knew most of it, which is saying something, because I hardly know anything."

"You know stuff," I say. "Don't put yourself down."

He shrugs. "I mean, I evidently don't know who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial." He shows me the question. He's circled it with his pencil and has written an enormous question mark next to it.

I take the paper and write down _Maya Lin._ "Is that all?"

Percy scrolls his eyes down the paper. "I mean, you may want to check my answers, but otherwise, that's the only question I was stuck on. Not counting the Aztec thing, of course."

That's pretty good. We might actually get a pretty high score on this, if that's the case. We could actually have a change of making it on the podium!

But then again, if we could get a high score on this, so will every other team, probably. And then the graders will be forced to differentiate us based on the preselected tiebreaker questions (which we might have answered incorrectly), and then we could just as easily get 12th place as 2nd.

Percy's gaze doesn't leave me. "Are you okay?"

I nod. "Yeah."

"Something's bothering you," he remarks.

"Yeah." How did he know? I didn't even say a word!

"Your expression. You always like, knit your eyebrows and your forehead gets wrinkly when you worry."

I immediately relax my face. "Is it that obvious?"

"No." He pauses. "It's just, you've basically permanently had that expression since Challenge 1."

I blink. "Really?"

He gives me an awkward smile. "I mean, yeah. Maybe it's just reserved for me, though."

I roll my eyes. "Should we start checking each other's answers?"

Percy leans back in his chair. The front two legs rise off the floor. "Sure."

I quickly skim over his answers. Artists who sang _We Will Rock You_ , Queen, check. Serena Williams, check. DNA, check. _Starry Night_ , check. And… all of it's correct. Literally all of it. I can't help but be impressed.

I look up to see Percy's progress. He's filled in an answer for the turtle question (a few seconds of squinting tells me he's written leatherback sea turtle), and he's currently thinking on the basketball question I skipped earlier. A couple seconds later, he proclaims, "AHA", and scribbles _Magic Johnson_.

In a flourish, he slaps his pencil down on the desk and raises his arms. "We have completed the test, and it hasn't even been 10 minutes!"

I look at the clock, and sure enough, the time on there reads 10:11. My heart flutters in excitement.

"Let's regroup," I offer. "So far, the only question we have left is the Aztec one, right?"

Percy grabs the paper and verifies my statement. "Yessiree."

"Should we guess for that one?" I ask.

Percy strokes his chin. "But what could we possibly guess? It's not like we can just write a sequence of t's and l's and hope it's correct."

I snort. "I mean…"

He raises an eyebrow. "Do you know _any_ Aztec goddess's name? Honestly, it doesn't matter if she's the moon goddess or not."

I think for a second. There's Quetzalcoatl, but I'm pretty sure he's a dude. And that's all I know.

I shake my head. "No goddesses, sorry."

Percy exhales. "I guess we'll just have to go with this, then. Time to wait for ten minutes to pass."

We sit in silence for a couple minutes or so. It's a comfortable silence, punctuated with the sound of Percy yawning or tapping his pencil or _something_ , but relaxed nonetheless. Soon enough, he looks at me and says, "Since we finished an equal amount of questions…"

I raise an eyebrow. Gods, I was hoping he would forget about that stupid bet. "How about nobody wins?"

Percy lifts his feet onto the edge of the table. "Ooor, how about we both win?"

I shake my head. "Percy, I am not calling you a hot genius."

He leans forward, lips curving into a smile. "Not even for a coffee?"

I give him a challenging smirk. "Nope."

"Darn." He leans back in his chair. "Let's just hope I can prove you wrong with that."

A knock on the door. "Five minutes left!" Hestia calls.

"We're done!" Percy replies. "Can we turn it in now?"

A pause, then she enters the room. The door clicks closed behind her.

"Really?" she asks. "Let's see it."

She analyzes our answers for a sec, eyebrows knitted. Then, she tucks the paper into her clipboard. She remarks, "That seemed easy."

Immediately, my shoulders dip in disappointment. Gods, if _she_ thought it was easy, then _everybody_ thought it was easy, and considering we didn't even know the answer to the first question, the chances that we would perform well in total are…

Zero. Zilch. Nada.

I shoot Percy an aggrieved look, but he seems oblivious as usual. His eyes are trained on the paper Hestia is holding. A slight smile dances across his face. I wonder how he could possibly be feeling so calm when I'm literally freaking out right now. Not that I'm very obvious about it.

Hestia nods in approval and gestures for us to get up. "You might want to be quiet, since many of the other teams are still taking their tests." She leads us through the winding maze of hallways to the college's exit, all the while going off about some random kitten that wound up in her house and her adventure to return it. Percy nods politely and laughs at the cues, but I stay silent. I nearly can't bear it anymore.

And no. It's not Percy's fault. It's not really mine either. It's just disappointment. I'm disappointed that, despite all the studying we've done over the week, the sole question that could decide whether or not we win the whole tournament ends up being something we can't answer. And _Reyna_ and _Hylla_ would probably be able to answer it, and then they would win first place yet _again_ , and something that I feel we truly deserved would go to the stuck-up dominant school yet again.

Percy and I find ourselves waiting outside the front door of the college. Hestia has gone back inside to return our paper to the leaderboard.

I look back at him. He's slouched against the wall, hands in pockets, hood pulled over his messy hair in an attempt to battle the chilly breeze. He's focused on the ground beneath his worn-out Converse, and the way it scuffs against his shoe.

I take in his long eyelashes, his slender nose, his strong arms. He's not unattractive. But there's something about him, about those features, that hold a great amount of age. He may be young, and he may be the exact opposite of mature, but he knows a lot more than he lets on. And that knowledge seems to be wearing him out. Maybe that's why he's so calm. Because he's been through this before. He knows what it's like to be staring in the face of something that you will inevitably lose.

Either way, it feels refreshing that Percy cares about this tournament as well. Somewhat.

It's almost as if Percy feels my gaze on him. He turns and makes eye contact with me.

"You okay?" he asks.

I flinch. "Uh, yeah. Of course. Why do you ask?"

He shrugs. His hood falls off his head. "You seem very down."

I return his shrug, but do not say a word.

He seems to sense the problem, though. He moves to stand beside me. "We can't change anything now."

"I know."

"So then why worry?"

"You don't need a _reason_ to worry. You just...do."

"I find that, if I worry, I'll just do worse at whatever I'm doing. That's why I always try to push it down. That's why I seem so fearless all the time."

I snort. He gives me a little smile.

"In all seriousness, though. Don't worry. I know your logicky brain would be analyzing the shit out of this situation right now, but stop. You don't need to calculate the probability of us not getting the podium. What you need is relaxation."

"What do you propose, a spa day?" I snicker.

Percy's eyes light up. "What do you say about going to Sweet on America?"

"What?" I ask.

"My mom used to work there, and I still know some of the employees. Come with me. I'll get you something."

"Uh, no." I take a step back. "I can't accept that, sorry."

"Come on!" Percy whines. "Literally just, like, one lollipop. They even sell coffee. I'll get you a coffee."

"I won't let you pay for anything."

"Annabeth, it's only fair!"

I shake my head.

"How about this," he offers. "I'll take off your end of the deal. You don't have to call me a hot genius."

I don't even think about it. "Deal."

* * *

 **Percy**

Sweet on America isn't too far from here, so we decide to walk. At first, I have a feeling that it'll be really awkward, but tired Annabeth is absolutely hilarious to hang out with. RIght now, she's telling this story about how Bobby lost his swim trunks in the ocean during a beach trip and the whole family was in a frenzy, looking for them. Her golden hair falls loosely around her face and she probably looks the most disheveled she's ever been (which isn't saying much), but her eyes are bright and her shoulders are relaxed. She looks so completely at ease right now, for the first time in months, and in all objectivity, she looks beautiful when she's like that.

"And Bobby was just sitting on a tree trunk the entire time, with a towel wrapped around his waist, bawling his eyes out. You know those cartoons where there are waterfalls flowing out of their eyes? That's basically the fitting image of Bobby."

I chuckle. "At least he had the towel. I can tell you about a time when…" The smile fades off my face as I realize what I've just said. "Never mind."

Annabeth's eyebrows shoot up. "Yes?"

"Nothing," I dismiss. I keep moving forward.

"What?" she asks. "You were going to tell me an embarrassing story of yourself."

"No, I was not," I say. "We're almost there."

"Come on!" Annabeth whines. She pouts, and trust me when I say she does _not_ look cute when she does that.

"Nope." I shake my head and open the door to the candy store. Immediately, I'm overwhelmed with a flurry of smells: licorice, jelly beans, milk chocolate (which, unfortunately, does not come in blue), and literally everything from my childhood that my mom used to bring home in her blue candy baggie. It smells like home.

I turn towards Annabeth, who inhales deeply. "Mmm," she sighs. "This is the most beautiful smell I've ever smelt."

Laughing, I pull her over to a table for two and place her in a seat. "Stay. I'll bring us some stuff to eat."

Obliging, she places her chin in her palm and stares at the colorful wallpaper surrounding the store.

I walk up to the cash register, where a blonde kid is staring at his phone. He looks up when he sees me, and he shoves his phone into his pocket. "Hello. How may I help you?"

I order coffees for us both (Annabeth's with a squirt of caramel), and I purchase an assortment of blue candies. The counter guy looks a bit miffed, since he's going to have to pick out all of the blue ones, but I slip him a $5 tip, which pacifies him a little.

I return to our table as soon as I get the food, and I place Annabeth's coffee in front of her. She stares at it for a second and then wraps her fingers around it, shivering at its warmth. "Thank you."

"No prob," I reply, and settle into my seat. We sit there for some time, comfortable silence bathing us in its warmth. I blow on my coffee, and the steam wafts over the table, forming wispy clouds entangled with Annabeth's own steam.

She looks up at me through the mist. Her skin looks like it's made of molten gold.

"You know," I begin. "We should do this more often."

Annabeth looks up from her coffee.

"I mean, you're not nearly as annoying as you pretend to be when you're screaming my face off."

She gives me a challenging smile. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. So if you ever decide to be not-annoying again, I could get used to spending more time with you."

She runs her hand through her hair, pushing it from her face, and I swear her grey eyes sparkle. "I'll hold you to that, Perseus Jackson."

And I can tell the ice has broken. Permanently.

We smile at each other, and something flips in my chest, like this is a sign of good things to come. That things won't stay sucky for long. I think that Zeus' Cup maybe might make this year something worth remembering.

* * *

Later that evening, I receive a notification on my phone from the Zeus' Cup Twitter account. Curious, I open it up.

It reads, _3 - Hamilton High School: Zoe Nightshade & Nyssa Barrera with a score of 16/20!_

Immediately, my phone lights up again. Annabeth.

 **Annabeth:** omg they're posting the placements online !

 **Annabeth:** welp

 **Percy:** are they postin soon?

 **Annabeth:** i think so

A notification from Twitter.

 _2 - Midtown Tech makes it onto the podium with a score of 18/20! Congrats to Flash Thompson and Jason Ionello!_

 **Percy:** and i pray to all the gods that exist in the world, including that aztec moon goddess who i now know is coyote

 **Percy:** GAH autocorrect

 **Percy:** coyolzauhqui*

 **Percy:** coyolxauhqui*

 **Annabeth:** only 1 l and 0 t's. darn.

 _And finally the moment we've all been waiting for!_

 **Annabeth:** AAAHHHH

 **Percy:** AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH

 **Annabeth:** AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I'm about to type an even longer "Aah" when it comes. The third and final notification.

 _First place in Challenge 2 goes to the one and only Goode High School! A round of applause for Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson, who have achieved a record score of 19/20!_

 **Grover:** BRO.

* * *

 **And so it begins!**

 **Also, I did not mean to offend anybody with my t's and l's Aztec thing. I hope nobody takes it that way.**

 **But yeah. I actually really liked the second part of this chapter, and I hope you did too. Let me know if you have any pointers for me, or if you got bored somewhere in there, or something of the sort. I would really appreciate any feedback that you have for my writing!** **Speaking of which, can we try to get to 55 reviews?**

 **Also, the song is _New Light_ by John Mayer. I thought it kinda summed up the last chapter pretty well, because their attitudes about each other are really starting to shift now.**

 **Thank you again!**


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